I told you I'd be quick. Did I not tell you it would be following the last chapter? :)

On with the story.... 

At the end of the hall were a large fence that separated the side they were on and the ambulances and all the other equipment on the other side. They walked along the fence until they reached door and moved in, making their way down the tiny stairs and to the parking lot with only three untouched ambulances with the addition of a jeep they haven't seen and the truck they first arrived in.

The two looked around for just a moment at all the stuff that was packed and ready to grab when needed. On one shelf was a large grey and black stripped gym bag that had a first aid peeking out ready to be used. Most of the weapons that were not inside a bag were hung in a case with a lock on it. They looked through the ambulances window and the trucks to see what was inside. Tyler looked through the jeep window and spotted a sniper gun in the front seat between the passenger and the driver. He looked at the driver's side handle to see that the lock was unlocked. A huge grin spread across his face when he ran to the driver's door and opened the jeep just to grab the sniper.

"Adira." He called out, "Look what I got." He announced excitedly waving the thing around trying to examine it.

Adira turned around to glance at Tyler and quickly dunked when she witnessed him waving the gun around like it was nothing, "Whoa." She exclaimed but not too loud, "Tyler!"

"Oh." He pulled the gun to his chest and stopped waving it around, "Sorry."

Adira sighed out of relief and stood up, "Put that back." She ordered him as she walked up to him, "Where'd you get that?"

"The jeep was unlocked." He answered motioning to the jeep.

"Well put it back." She demanded, "I rather not be shot nor caught with a gun that isn't ours."

Tyler pouted as he went to put the gun back where it was while mocking Adira's orders. Adira heard his mocking and smacked him on the back of his head just slightly as she walked by. Tyler gave her a glare as he walked behind her and followed her to where the ambulance entrance was. There they ran out carefully and ready to swing on anything that pops up on them.

They looked around when they were outside with the sun burning down on them. They took a look around them to see nothing but another hospital building and more parking. Trees stood above the islands that separated each section of the parking lot. When they turned their heads to the left, they saw a little bit more parking and in the distance was the dark city.

Adira tapped Tyler and motioned with her head to the city where they took slow steps towards. They stepped out to where the building ended and stared out into the distance. Adira looked around the corner to see nothing but trees from the islands and the body of one of the infected from last night. Adira squinted her eyes to the city to see if she could see any infected around because from the look of everything none of the headless infected were anywhere to be found.

"I can't see anything from here." Adira shook her head.

Tyler walked back inside the building while Adira stood there still trying to see any sign of any infected or where they went. Adira took a few more steps out in the open where she was no longer being hidden behind the wall. The sudden sound of a glass bottle hitting the floor made Adira jump just slightly and quickly turn around. She was met with the sight of Ciras holding a glass bottle in his left hand while he was looking down at the floor staring intently at a bottle on its side. Six green and brown bottles was on the floor even some broken glass was just sitting there around Ciras.

He sighs in delight, "Well look whose came to join me." He breathed.

Adira just looked at the man in disgust. She folded her arms over her chest and stood up straight.

"What are you doing here?" Ciras asked slurring his words a little bit, "You shouldn't be out here. I never gave orders for anyone to come out."

Adira just stood there eyeing him, "You're drunk."

"So what if I am, little girl?" He slurred at her waving his beer bottle in front of him, "Mind your business and go play dolls."

"I would when you start being a leader." Adira shot back.

"I am a leader!" He shouted at her his face scrunching up and turning red.

"Obviously not a good one if you're out here drunk as a skunk." Adira criticized yet her voice was nothing but calm, "While there's people in there who are scared for their life."

"I am a good leader." He insisted taking a step closer to her.

Ciras was so mad that Adira could swear she could see smoke erupting from his ears. Adira didn't back down but instead stood her ground.

"Then start acting like one because last I checked you're not even acting like a man." Adira spit, "At least not one that cares for the people in there."

Ciras clenched and unclenched his fist trying his best not to just knock the teeth out of the 5'4" girl in front of him. He tried remembering the things Veronica told him but with him drunk and the teenage girl, who is hurting his ego, he was finding it hard not to.

"First of all, don't tell me how to be a man." He hissed, "Second of all, don't tell me how to run my camp because I am a good leader."

"Is that why you got two of your men killed by sending them out to fight that mob you knew they couldn't handle?" She pushed, "Or the fact that William was so close to being dead at your orders to just leave him out there to suffer, hm?"

His anger kept him from speaking. So Adira went on.

"William would have been dead if I listened to you." She stated, "Good leaders don't leave anyone behind." She told him, "Especially their own." She added, "Don't tell me you're a good leader if letting people you're supposed to be protecting die and leaving them for dead. How many have you killed because of your selfishness, huh?"

He was getting angrier with every word that spilled out of her mouth and slipped into his ears. By now he was shaking out of anger and she knew she was getting under his skin. It came to the point where he couldn't handle her calling him a bad leader and accusing him of killing his own men; Veronica's voice in his head faded. He punched her square in the face sending her head to the side and her body to twist.

When she came back, her body in the correct straight position, he grabbed her by her throat with the tightest grip, lifted her inches off the ground and threw her back. Adira dug her nails into the side of his wrist and left a scratch trial that faded into the top of his hand to his knuckles when she was tossed. She hit the ground on her side and rolled until she was stopped by one of the islands in front of them. Her side roughly smashed into it causing her to let out slight groan. The side of her head hit it but wasn't that strong of a hit.

She looked up at a steaming Ciras, with his hand clutched into a fist, walking angrily towards her. She lifted herself up in a sitting position and moved backwards one hand still holding the side of her head. She missed the island wall and she fell backwards in the dirt and rocks.

The sound of a gun being cocked filled the air and stopped Ciras from coming after Adira.

"Leave her alone." The familiar boyish cracking voice said.

Ciras turned around slowly to see Tyler holding up the sniper he was suppose to put back.

"Take another step towards her and I will put you down." Tyler growled getting a better grip on the sniper than before.

"Is that so, little boy?" Ciras took slow steps towards Tyler, trying to intimidate him.

While Tyler held his ground and showed him no fear, Adira looked around the floor for something that could stop him from even trying to lay a hand on him. While looking around the island, she found a rock with a round edge point so she wrapped her fingers around it and picked it up.

When she glanced back up at the two, Ciras was a lot closer to Tyler than before.

"You ain't going to do nothing." He stated matter of fact, "You're just a little cowardly boy."

"If I was then I wouldn't have been out there saving your men while you were inside doing shit." Tyler responded, "From the looks of it, from last night you were the coward hiding behind the walls while my family and I were out there facing those things."

"You were being idiots." He spilt while Adira was slowly and carefully getting up and making her way towards him.

"No we were saving a life and protecting the people you should have been protecting." Tyler spit back.

Ciras took his closeness to Tyler to wrap his hand around the barrel of the gun and snatch it from him by pulling the gun forward causing Tyler to let go and to step forward. Ciras aimed the gun right at Tyler's head unaware that Adira was sneaking up on him.

"I'll show you a coward." Ciras said gripping the gun in his hand and putting it in position with the butt of the gun up against his shoulder.

The sound of a rock being crushed and grinded on against cement rang through Ciras ear causing him to quickly twist around. He side stepped towards Adira and swung the gun at her trying to bash the butt of the gun into her skull but failed when she dodged it by dunking down. Once the gun went over her head, she got up almost immediately and smacked the rock into Ciras's temple. The collision sent him to the ground, hitting the ground with a loud thud and knocking him unconscious.

Ciras was laying on the floor, stomach down with his hands looking in a surround position and his legs centimeters apart. The gun was under his right arm and his head was to the side with his fresh wound unseen as it was facing the ground as well.

Adira and Tyler just stared at the unconscious body before them. That's until Adira let the rock drop from her fingers and hit the ground with a clunk. Tyler eyes moved over to the rock on the floor before gazing up at Adira in shock. Adira glanced up at Tyler with the same shock look in her eyes as Tyler's. Both of them let out shallow breaths as they looked at each other.

"What happens if we killed him?" Tyler asked his voice was worried yet there was a slight carelessness in it.

Adira quickly grabbed the gun from under Ciras's arm and stood it up against the wall. She motioned for Tyler to help her and they both took hold of his arms and dragged him behind the wall where all the bottles were. Once they dropped him, Adira grabbed the rock she used that had a blood covered tip and placed it on the side of his head, positioning his head to where it looked as if he hit his head on it with his head turned a bit and his wound slightly against it. Lastly, she picked up one of the glass bottle that was sitting around and tossed it inches in front of him to the side, making it look as if he tripped and fell dropping the bottle.

"I didn't hit him that hard." Adira assured him, "Not enough to kill him even though I should."

"What are we going to do?" Tyler asked worried, "What are we going to tell the people?"

"Come on we have to get back inside." She said ignoring his questions and trying to quickly get out of there, "We were never here."

"Why'd you move him?" Tyler kept asking questions, "What was the point?"

"He's drunk." She answered, "Making it seem as if he tripped and fell hitting his head on the rock. Look around there're rocks all around it wouldn't be surprising." She explained grabbing the gun.

"It's freaking knowing how it doesn't look like it was staged at all." He commented a little freaked out.

"Come on." She ordered grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him with her, "We cannot be around when they find him. Put the gun back to where it was." She told him shoving the gun in his chest.

They ran back in as quickly as they could. Tyler put the gun back in its place before they continued to run through the halls of the basement none stop. They ran as if they were running for their lives. They both jumped over the bodies as quickly and safely as they can, throw the door open and raced to the staircase.

When they got to the staircase door, they practically ran into the door when they got close enough to open it. They slowed down and started walking up the stairs trying to catch their breaths.

"What are we going to tell the others, Adira?" Tyler anxiously asked, "We could get into a lot of trouble."

"We say nothing." She spilled out quickly, "We were not there, okay?"

He gave her a nod.

"If anything we got lost in the basement and ended up in the morgue." She spilled out the idea that was popping up in her head, "We got spooked and ran out of there as fast as we can."

"And if they find out it was us?" He continued to hound her with questions, "That we staged it then what? What are we going to do? We might get into a lot of trouble." He threw his hands up.

"The worst they could do is sending us out." Adira answered, "It was self defense we were protecting each other and ourselves." She assured him, "If they don't ask, we don't answer."

"Okay." He sighed, "Are you sure he won't die? I mean, yeah he's a son of a b...." He admitted stopping himself from cussing, "But I don't want to find out what they'll do to us if he ends up dying."

"They won't and neither will he." Adira replied, "We don't say a thing. I didn't hit him that hard and someone is bound to find him soon."

They got to the first floor and they just stood in front of the door staring at it.

"We go out the front make it seem as if we are just leaving, okay?" Adira told him, "We don't say anything."

Tyler nodded and they let out a sigh before opening the door before walking out. They both were able to walk out of the staircase and into the lobby as if nothing happened and if they were just simply walking out. When no one was in the lobby, they ran to the door and shove themselves into one of the spaces in the revolving door and when it opened they ran out. But the faster they got out, the faster Adira ran into what she thought was a wall for a second and Tyler running into her.

They took a step back after they jumped just a little from the surprise and took a look at what or who they ran into.

"Kendrick." Adira sighed in relief.

"Hey, Adira." He greeted, "Why in a rush?" He looked the two over, "You two almost knocked me over." He laughed.

"Sorry." She breathed out, "We were messing around." She made up an excuse, "Racing. Tyler thinks he's fast than me..."

"I am." Tyler said the first thing that popped in his head.

"... So we decided while we were heading down here we'd race." She explained, "I win" She added throwing Tyler a smile.

Tyler was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath but once he did he shooed her off.

"What are you doing out here?" Kendrick asked.

"We were going to see if the headless things already made their way into the next city." Adira answered.

"Yeah they have." Kendrick informed her looking towards the city and pointing, "There seems to be no more sign of any of them. We were just searching the perimeter to make sure none of them wondered away from the herd. It was Martin's suggestion so we just decided to come and take a look."

"Oh well we are not under any orders but our own." Tyler shrugged finally speaking up.

Kendrick laughed, "I figure that much. Especially after last night, which reminds me how are you feeling?" He asked his words covered in concern, "You've took quit a hit from Ciras after you're little dare devil stunt."

"I'm fine, thanks." She answered, "Just a little bruising that's all." She put her hand to her cheek and rubbed it gently before adding, "Didn't hurt that much though."

"Good to hear that." He nodded and when no one said anything else besides Adira just nodding he let out a sigh and glanced around.

Adira and Tyler backed up just a little feeling like they were standing too close to Kendrick. When it was still quiet, Tyler and Adira decided to turn around and head back inside but were stopped in the middle of turning around by Kendrick's voice breaking the silence.

"Oh, hey." He spoke turning towards them quickly, "Um- I'm not sure if you care or not but-" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand hesitating to continue, "I visited William in the doctor's office this morning and he's going to make it." He shared the news with her, "I know not all the soldiers or runners are going to admit it but we all appreciate what you did. I know I do. I cannot thank you enough." He ranted on, "William is one of the best soldiers we have and without him..." He paused trying to figure out the correct words, "I don't think we would have lasted this long so thank you I really appreciated."

"No problem." Adira said, "I would do it again if I had to." She admitted, "I suggest thanking Madison too. She went out and helped saved both of us."

"That's true." He nodded, "But she went to save you. If you didn't go out there first most likely she wouldn't have done so. You went out there without any hesitation to help save someone who wasn't your own while Madison went for you."

Adira didn't respond and it wasn't because what he said was true but because she didn't know how to. Maybe it was true. Madison ran out there just to save Adira but Madison would have known she wasn't going to leave William behind. Adira was sure Madison would have gone out there for William if she knew them better. At least that's what Adira would like to think.

"Thanks for letting me know about William." Adira thanked him, "Later, I'll go visit him." She said.

Kendrick just nodded and they said their goodbyes. Tyler and Adira walked towards the door and took a step in one of the little spaces.

"Kendrick!" A male voice called out, "You got to see this!" He said urgently.

The voice caused Adira and Tyler to pause for a second before they walked back out. Kendrick turned his head to the side to see a brunette boy named, Kyle, at the corner of the building to his right calling him and waving him over out of breath. Adira and Tyler both looked to their left when Kendrick made his way towards him. They followed even if it they weren't the ones being called. When Kendrick walked up to him, Kyle pointed towards the other corner at the floor. Kendrick let out a gasp.

"Oh my god." Kendrick said, "What the hell?"

Adira and Tyler finally got there and saw what they were looking at. On the floor was Ciras unconscious body surrounded by beer bottles. The two boys ran up to him and started examining him.

"What happened to him?" Kendrick asked worried.

"We'll go get Veronica and Dr. Yoshika!" Adira announced and both she and Tyler ran off in search for Veronica and Dr. Yoshika.

The two boys stayed with Ciras's body while the other two ran down the hall towards Dr. Yoshika's office. Once they got to the correct door, they burst through it making Dr. Yoshika jump from his seat and almost dropping his book that was held tightly in his hands now. Dr. Yoshika's eyes widen in fear as he laid his eyes upon the two teens who almost gave him a heart attack at an early age. He questioned them but they quickly cut to the chase telling him Kyle found Ciras unconscious outside and that he needed him out there quick. Dr. Yoshika ran ahead of them while they went in search for Veronica.

They ran around calling out for her. Eventually, they winded up in the kitchen where she happily responded. She was doing the dishes from all the citizens breakfast when they came running in and telling her the same thing they told Dr. Yoshika but this time making sure to let her know Dr. Yoshika was already out there. The teens lead her to the lobby where they spotted Dr. Yoshika rolling a gurney with Ciras's body on it from the outside the building.

Veronica quickly opened up the one automatic door next to the revolving door allowing Dr. Yoshika to bring Ciras inside. Once Dr. Yoshika was inside, she shut it with the help of Adira and Tyler. She started putting the wooden boards against it keeping the sliding doors from opening up then putting chairs in front of it so the boards don't come off.

Veronica ran after Dr. Yoshika, "What happened?" She asked her voice full of worry.

" Head injury." Dr. Yoshika started, "He probably fell and hit his head on a rock."

"Is he going to be okay?" Veronica questioned.

"Yeah from what I could tell he should be." Dr. Yoshika told her.

The two rushed into the hallway making their way back to his office. Their voices fainting away the further they walked down the hall. Adira and Tyler looked at each other in relief and a little worry. They ran outside to find Kendrick and Kyle still looking at the area they found Ciras in. They walked up to them out of breath but the two boys paid no attention to them until one spoke.

"What happened?" Tyler questioned actually sounding concern and curious.

"From the looks of it, he fell and hit his head." Kendrick shrugged, "He must have hit his head pretty hard."

Kyle, who was crouched down, stood up, "He was drunk." He stated and glanced over at Adira but he didn't look away when Adira met his gaze and the two just eyed each other none of them breaking contact, "Came out here to get wasted and ended up tripping on either himself or these stupid rocks around here; his temple collided into this rock." He tapped the blood stained rock with his foot.

Inside her own head she was questioning why he was looking at her. The voices in her head told her that he knew and was on to her. She should just confess right there and then. Inside, she was half and half. Half relieved that maybe they could be falling for it and relaxed as she wasn't afraid of Kyle. The other half of her was going mad. Wanting him to just stop staring at her and to focus on the crime scene before them, they had no proof but Kyle's intense stares were freaking her out.

She didn't break though. She figured he was trying to get a reaction out of her. See if there is anything about her he needed to be worry about. She continued to keep her eyes locked with his without any form of guilt or worry.

"It was just an accident." Kendrick sighed unaware of the eye contact between Kyle and Adira.

Kendrick rubbed the back of his neck before standing up, "We better get inside. Let everyone know its all clear and lock down is over."

"Also, Ciras might be out for a few days' maybe weeks." Kyle added.

"Yeah we should." Adira agreed but not breaking the eye contact with Kyle.

They all turned around, Adira and Kyle's tense eye contact breaking in the process, and headed back to the front of the hospital. They all walked into the hospital one by one and they stood in the middle of the lobby while Kyle and Kendrick were trying to figure out what they were going to do without William and Ciras. They never had a situation like that before. Now that it has happened they didn't know what to do.

"With your leader drunk and unconscious and one of your soldiers beaten up, what do you guys normally do?" Tyler asked looking at the two boys for answers.

Adira turned to face them waiting for them to answer Tyler's questioned.

Kendrick shrugged facing Adira and Tyler with his arms folded over his chest and legs spread apart a few centimeters. He looked in the direction Ciras was taken down before looking down for a second, adjusting his stance than looking up at the two teens. Kendrick truly looked distraught at the situation they were in and was genuinely concerned for the well-being of William and Ciras. His sadden eyes and the era of confusion and unknown were completely there. Not once of Kendrick gave off a sign of faking or his actions being forced.

"I don't know." Kendrick started, "We never had this happened before."

Adira put her hands on her hips, "Well who's the second in charge or the next in charge after Ciras?"

"William." Kendrick and Kyle answered simultaneously.

"Definitely would be William." Kendrick added.

"Okay." Adira breathed out, "After William?"

"We don't know." Kyle sighed, "We never really talked about it."

"Well, what do we do?" Tyler cross-examined.

"Why are you asking us?" Kyle questioned back seeming a little annoyed, "We are not the leaders."

"Well at this moment you kind of are." Adira pointed out, "Ciras is unconscious, William is badly injured and with you two finding Ciras, I say you two take charge until one of them gets well enough to take it back." She shrugged giving them a suggestion.

"Either that or Veronica could be the next in charge." Tyler added.

"But Veronica doesn't go out for runs or anything she simply keeps things here in line." Kyle mentioned.

"Then just have Veronica choose the leader of the runners and soldiers?" Adira suggested with a shrug, "Until we find her, you two take charge."

Kendrick nodded as the words spilled out of her mouth and into his ears, "Alright." He agreed with a little hesitation, "Adira, can you and Tyler find Veronica and let everyone know lock down is off and let them know there will be a meeting."

"She's with Dr. Yoshika." Adira and Tyler answered in sync.

"Okay then call off the lock down and call everyone in the cafeteria for lunch." He looked at her dead in the eye his voice coming out deep and demanding but still sounding kind, "Kyle and I will let everyone know what happened." He added, nodding at Kyle, who nodded back showing agreement.

"First we'll go see what condition both Ciras and William are in before making an announcement." He stated looking over at Kendrick to get assurance from, "Make sure nothing gets out of hand and that everything goes the same way as it always been. Nothing's changed."

Adira nodded, "Alright." She tapped Tyler on the shoulder, gently, "Come on." She told him.

They both took off while Kendrick and Kyle took off in the direction of Dr. Yoshika office. Adira and Tyler stopped near the staircase door and faced each other.

"That was close." Tyler whispered.

She shushed him. "We don't talk about it. Let's just go call off the lock down."

With that they took off running up the steps and going to every level, knocking on doors and as sweetly and nicely letting the people who resided in the rooms that the lock down was off and they were free to come out of the room. Kendrick and Kyle waited in Dr. Yoshika's office to hear what he had to say about the injury to Ciras's temple.

Meanwhile, Kyle and Kendrick were talking to Veronica outside of the hallway. Explaining everything that was going on and what they planned on doing about it.

Upstairs on the top floor, the last door slams shut as Adira walked away from it letting out a sigh of annoyance and tiredness from having to say the same thing over and over again along with answering the same questions that the civilians had. The two split each taking a hallway on each floor and meeting up back at the stairs when they were done. They got back down to the fifth floor and stood in front of the door they had skipped. She swung it open and walked in, with Tyler following, revealing the boys talking to each other while Richie entertained Jade and Madison not in sight but was in the bathroom.

Once the door slammed shut everyone turned to look at who was entering their room. Adira let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her face. Chad took notice and walked up to her wrapping his arms around her as he pulled her close. Tyler first instinct was to head straight for the bed and go to sleep. He resisted the urge as he didn't want to miss the meeting.

"You okay?" Chad asked softly.

"Fine." Adira responded pulling away, "We are no longer on lock down. The headless infected went into the city and there are none around the perimeter, Kendrick and Kyle checked." She informed them, "As of right now or an hour ago or so, Veronica is in charge and maybe Kendrick and Kyle are in charge of the soldiers." She took a pause to catch her breath, "We are now able to go downstairs for lunch but there will be a meeting held by Kendrick and Kyle."

"We could leave the room?" Madison's voice piped in just as she shut the door to the bathroom.

"Yes we could go down to the cafeteria for lunch." Adira said once again.

"What is the meeting about?" Richie asked now curious.

They all got up and were getting ready to leave the room.

"Ciras was drunk and fell hitting his head on a rock." Adira replied looking at everyone in the room, who was now looking back at her, "I think they might talk about what they are going to do and what condition he is in."

Everyone seemed to understand as they nodded and all walked out the door together. Madison was up front leading the way as she ranted about how she was starving even though she ate just a few hours ago. Richie and Dan were talking to each other while Jade skipped happily in front of them. Chad and Adira were in the back of them with Chad's arm wrapped around her shoulder and her slumped against him with her eyes close allowing him to guide her.

When they were walking down the hall to the cafeteria, Adira looked up at Chad and whispered to him.

"I need to talk to you." She said in a hush tone making sure even the people next to them don't hear as she poked his hips.

He looked down at her with his brows scrunched in confusion and his eyes covered in concern and curiosity. She shook her head oh so slightly. He understood and knew from her head shake it was either her indicating to talk alone or just not now.

In the cafeteria, everyone was in line waiting for them to be served food that Veronica had prepared while others took their tray of food and found a seat next to their friends and loved ones. Only certain soldiers stood guard while most of the others were also sitting at table with other fellow runners and soldiers. Tyler was already in the cafeteria saving his group a seat in a booth against wall, opposite of the wall on the left of the entry way.

After everyone has took a seat Kendrick and Kyle, along with Veronica, stood in the middle of everyone trying to get everyone to listen, instead of asking questions. Once the questions and chatters have came to a halt Veronica started to speak.

"As you all can see Ciras is not here to give these announcements like he always does but-" She takes a moment to pause just to try to find the right words to ease the news to them, "Ciras will not be joining us. He is in the emergency room with Dr. Yoshika."

Everyone looked around at each other giving each other a confused and worried look. Some let out a gasp while others just stared at Veronica. Soon everyone turned back to look at Veronica.

"Ciras is badly injured." Kendrick stepped forward, "Kyle and I found him unconscious with a wound in his temple surrounded by beer bottles on the right side of the building."

"He was drunk and tripped over one of the bottles." Kyle stepped in to finish, "Hitting his head on a large rock knocking him unconscious and unable to continue his duty as our leader for a few months."

The volume of the people voices started getting louder as they threw a bunch of questions at the trio in the center. They continuously asked who was going to lead them, what will they do and all other sorts of questions. Veronica stepped in and hushed the crowd with worried mothers and fathers wondering if the place was safe without Ciras and William.

"Veronica will be leader of us as of right now." Kendrick announced, "This changes nothing. We go on as we've always done. With Ciras out and our second leader next in charge, William, also injured; Veronica is the next in line."

"She doesn't even know how to shoot a gun!" A man in the crowd pointed out, "How will she protect us? She shouldn't be leader!"

Kyle stepped forward and shouted back, "She keeps this place stable! She is in charge and that's what Ciras would want." His voice calmed down and was now steady and relaxed, "Kendrick and I will be in charge of soldiers and runners from now on."

With that sentence being said everyone but Adira's group stayed quiet and observed as everyone went into an uproar over Kendrick and Kyle being the leaders of the group. Kendrick and Kyle looked around startled at the negative response they were getting from everyone. Not one person was made an effort to stand up for them or show they were okay with them being leaders. Eva and the other soldiers standing guard tried to settle the crowd down and get them to sit back down. They were yelling over everyone else in order to calm the people down but the people's voice were louder than theirs therefore overshadowing the runner's attempts.

Eventually, after a few minutes of listening to everyone saying how badly the idea was and how unqualified they were for the job, Adira and Madison shouted to no one in particular. Both their squeaky screams silence the room full of people. Everyone turned towards the group after they have quieted down. Adira was now sitting on the back of the seat.

"This is not the time to argue!" She told them, "Ciras is hurt and so is your second in charge. Veronica is in charge of everyone now." She took a moment to breath from the shouting she did.

No one dared to shout back or interrupt her. Her voice dominated everyone who tried to comment or shout back at her.

"As for the runners and soldiers, Kyle and Kendrick are in charge of that until further notice. They made sure those headless monsters out there are nowhere near the hospital." She said pointing towards a wall to indicate outside, "They will be in charge until Veronica decides who she believes is fit for the job until Ciras or William is well enough to take charge." She looked at everyone looking at her, "Don't want to hear another word about it, do you understand?" She screamed the last three words. Everyone jumped at her dominate voice as it startled them.

Most people shook their heads to indicate they understood while others muttered a yes or ya. Adira let out a sigh.

"Then hush it and listen to what they have to say." She demanded before sliding back into her seat up right.

Everyone turned back to the trio in the middle without saying another word. Veronica looked at Adira and nodded before taking in a deep breath then continuing. It took a few minutes before Veronica and the two boys to finish up the meeting and allowed everyone to continue their lunch, if they already haven't finished it. It also didn't take long after Veronica and the two boys left for them to start whispering and chatting about Ciras and how Kendrick and Kyle were going to be in charge.

Adira and her group turn back around to face forward and continued eating the remaining of their food. They began to make small conversation with each other, Adira being the first to speak.

"We should go check on William." Adira suggested stuffing mash potatoes mixed with corn in her mouth, "See how he's doing?" She added once she finished swallowing her food.

"Why?" Chad questioned his voice coming out a little agitated then he'd like.

Adira gazed up from her food and up at him a little surprised at attitude, "Because I didn't risk my life just for him to see him die." She snapped.

She got up to throw her food away, shaking her head as she tossed the food in the trash, put the tray on top where a few more trays were stacked and left the cafeteria. Chad realized how his response came out and immediately regretted it.

"Right." He whispered to himself nodding his head before getting up, doing the exact same thing Adira did then leaving the cafeteria.

Chad rushed past people to catch up to Adira, who was already on her way to Dr. Yoshika's office. When he saw her walking up to the door, he slowed down his pace. He stood right behind her when Dr. Yoshika opened the door revealing the two men lying on their own bed. He greeted both of them where they were able to see both, William and Ciras, so much clearer.

They could tell Dr. Yoshika was in the middle of cleaning and patching Ciras up from the gauze wrapped around half of his wound and the end of the gauze hanging down his shoulder. Ciras's chest rose up and fell down as his breathing was shallow. He was flat on his back with his head propped up with pillows, his arms flat by his side and his legs flat with his left foot at a slight angle and his right foot flat on its side.

The blonde boy known as Carry's brother was pushed on the other side of the room. Adira noticed he was looking a lot better than when they first got there. His leg was healed and only a tiny bruise made its place there.

As for William, he was lying on his bed with a breathing tube in his nose and him, too, breathing shallow. He was in the same position as Ciras except his head wasn't propped up. He had bruises on his face and a busted lip with fading dried blood dripping down his chin. He didn't have a shirt on, just a blanket covering the bottom half of his body, which allowed Adira and Chad to see the big black and yellow bruise on his right rib cage. His left wrist was put into a cast indicating it was broken. Adira got closer and noticed the stitching in his left eyebrow, where Dr. Yoshika had to cut two lines just after the little arch of his brows to stitch it properly.

"Is this all the injuries he suffered from?" Adira asked stepping away from William and glancing at Dr. Yoshika.

"Well he also had a scrape hip right here." Dr. Yoshika answered walking over to the right side of his bed and showing the scrapes to Adira, "See." He said moving the covers a little lower for her to see, "But they should heal fine as long as they get cleaned often." He paused waiting for her to be done examining William's hip; when she was done, she stood up straight and looked at him, "And he also injured his left knee and right ankle." He said covering the scrapes and moving to the foot of his bed and lifting the sheets.

Right then and there she saw his knee was wrapped in self-adhering elastic wrap along with his right ankle too.

"Other than that he should be fine." Dr. Yoshika shrugged but sounded confident.

"Do you need any help?" Adira offered.

"Yeah I don't mind." Dr. Yoshika chimed at the offer, "I mean, you seem like you know more about this stuff than I do so second opinion is always welcomed."

"Do you know if he broke his ribs?" Adira asked immediately after he agreed examining his ribs.

"No." He answered honestly, "To be truthful, I really don't know how to tell when someone has a broken rib without a X-Ray."

He watched carefully as Adira put her eyes at his chest level and watched intensely at his chest. After a few minutes of watching his chest rise up and fall down, she poked the center of the bruised skin. It felt tender under her finger so she kept pushing all around the rest of the bruise and it all felt the same way. When she was done, she stood straight up.

"So?" Dr. Yoshika cocked his head to the side waiting for a response.

"His ribs are fractured." Adira announced putting her hands on her hips and looking down at William.

"So does that mean I wrap it?" He asked unsure if that was the right thing to do.

"No, if you wrap it, it will keep his lungs and ribs from expanding."

"And that's a bad thing?" He said more as a question.

"If his lungs and ribs don't expand like they normally do then that can cause an infection." Adira explained taking a deep breath, "If an infection sets in that could make things a whole lot difficult and could result in a punctured lung and eventually will end up collapsing." She paused and her eyes flickered to Dr. Yoshika, who just stared at her, "Yeah it's a really bad thing."

"How can you tell if someone has a broken rib?" He asked curious standing right next to her.

"For one, the bruising on the ribs is an indicator especially when it's yellow." She explained to him pointing to the yellow spikes on his skin, "Also, if you look at the breathing very closely-" She said her voice getting a little softer and quieter, "You could see his chest goes up then quickly goes down as if something is sparking pain around his ribs or lungs. Check this out, feel the bruised area." She ordered.

He breathed out an okay before putting his fingers against his ribs and pushing down slightly. He glanced up at her letting her know she could continue.

"The skin is tender and from the looks of it, it's also swelled." She explained.

"Oh okay." He said both amazed and amused, "So what do you think we should do to make sure it doesn't get worse?" He asked wanting to suck in more information.

"First, let's put him in an upright position." She ordered calmly searching for the button that moves the bed.

Dr. Yoshika goes to the other side, pulls a lever underneath the bed up and pushed the bed up for some extra help. The bed moves William to an upright position.

"Okay." Adira breathed out, "He should have a bag of ice placed on the area so it helps with the swelling. When he wakes up, make sure he doesn't take shallow breathing. I know it will probably kill him to do so but he has to let his ribs and lungs expand so you should probably give him painkillers to help with the pain." She explained, "Also, make sure he does ten slow deep breaths." She nodded to him.

"Okay. I should probably go get a bag of vegetable or something for the swelling." Dr. Yoshika breathed trying his best to remember what Adira had said and was about to walk out, "Wait, that reminds me; how are you? How's your injury?"

"I'm fine." She waved it off, "Chad has been taking care of me." She smiled over at Chad, who hasn't said a word, "I think I'm healing up very nicely."

"Can I take a look?" Dr. Yoshika asked, "I mean, the more patients I see the better I'll be able to get better." He nervously laughed after realizing his question came out a little perverted.

"Um..." Adira hesitated to answer.

"Oh, here." He quickly gave her a blanket to cover herself with once he noticed her hesitating and figured it was because she had to take her pants off.

"Okay." She sighed.

Chad took the thin blanket from him and held it in front of her covering her below the waist. She mumbled thanks and took off her pants and her head dunking behind the covers for a brief moment before she popped up again holding her pants. Chad then automatically wrapped the covers around her waist and held it there until she sat down. Chad pulled the rolled up one half of the blanket to the point where it revealed her almost healed, stitched up gash in her thigh. Chad tucked the rest of the blanket that was covering her other leg under her leg and blocking the doctor from seeing Adira's underwear.

When he was done covering her up and making sure she was covered, he stepped away from her to let Dr. Yoshika to examine. Dr. Yoshika sat on a medical chair and wheeled himself in front of Adira. He poked around the area and examining the almost healed gash in her thigh.

"It looks as if the stitching is ready to be taken out." He commented more to himself than to others, "Want me to take them out now or..." He asked looking up before drifting off.

"Yeah if they are ready to be taken out then go for it." She answered with a shrugged.

"Okay." He breathed out.

He washed his hands the best he could and sanitized them before getting the medical scissors he needed before rolling back to Adira and started taking out the stitches.

Once done, he threw them away, cleaned the area of Adira's thigh then washed his hands again. As he was drying his hands, Adira mumbled a thank you to him before getting up holding the covers against her waist. Chad gave her back her pants then holding up the sheet when she retrieved her pants. Chad tossed the sheet on the medical chair Adira was just sitting on when her pants was fully on.

"If there is anything I could do let me know." Adira suggested while they were walking out.

"Actually, while you mentioned it-" He spoke turning around to face her when he threw the napkin in the trash, "Can you come tomorrow and cover for me while I get some lunch."

"Yeah sure-" She shrugged with a sweet smile.

"But you could finish your lunch before you come." Yoshika suggested just letting her know.

"Okay." Adira said slightly chuckled, "Well see yeah later."

"Have a nice day." Chad said they as they waved and walked out of the room.

Throughout the day Chad, Adira, Madison, Jade and Tyler, along with Richie and Dan, spent the rest of the day talking about what was going to happen and what they were going to do. Adira didn't get chance to tell Chad about what happened when they were outside. Nor was she able to tell him what Tyler had found down in the basement. They walked around eventually engulfing themselves in many conversations they wished they weren't expecting to be in. Eventually, Madison, Jade and Tyler trailed off in their own direction with other younger children wanting to play with them for a little while. Richie and Dan drifted off into the crowd unnoticed by Chad and Adira.

The duo sat around chatting with some of the runners and civilians who all asked about William and Ciras condition trying to get some information out of them. Chad sat back as Adira explained their condition to the group asking. It became a routine for them that day when talking to people when they would ask about William or Ciras and Adira answer.

The sun, eventually, went down and the moon began to rise, and it was time for dinner. The group came back together at their usual spot in the center of the cafeteria surrounded by a wave of people. The group joked around with each other and discussed what they did after they all separated. It even came to the point where Adira and Chad discussed how weird it was that most of the civilians asked more about William than they did about Ciras.

The pair shrugged it off and joined in numerous random conversations with the rest of the group and some people, who joined in. The people who joined the group consist of Ella, Veronica and Eva. Veronica had finished checking up on everyone making sure they all got some food before getting some food for her and relaxing. Veronica was like the mother in their own kitchen making sure everyone is served and fed before actually taking care of herself. Ella joined the group like she always did and that wasn't out of the ordinary.

The group had gotten used to her eating with them and she took a fond to Madison, who seemed to share the same feelings. To the rest of the group, it was like they were exactly the same people. Only they were years apart.

Eva, on the other hand, was given the opportunity to switch with another guard or runner so she could eat even though she been stubborn for a good whole ten minutes with the runner, James, a older man in his mid to late 30's, who seemed to share a strong bond with Eva. Eva was the type to not eat very much and ate as little as possible unless Adira or James told her otherwise.

Looking at the group, no one would think anything bad was happening on the outside of the building. They were laughing and telling stories. Adira and Eva seemed to reconnect and act as if they haven't missed a beat. Chad chatted with Tyler about video games they used to play and the ones they missed; while Richie chatted with Dan and Jade was listening to Madison and Ella.

The night ended with Veronica telling the group her most common stories that Eva and Ella heard almost a hundred times already but still listened and still seemed to have the same reaction at the end. It was the story of how her father, who died of cancer, from beyond the grave rescued her from her own battle from cancer. Eva nudged Adira gently on her arm and whispered, "I love this story." to her. Adira responded with a smile to her and looked back at Veronica as everyone gave her nothing but their attention.

By the time Veronica finished her story, it left the girls in complete and utter awe and the boys smiling with awe as well but that's all they did. Veronica was just sitting there in her seat smiling with her nodding. Her smile showed joy but her eyes showed nothing but hurt and sadness.

Adira let out a sigh before saying, "That's a cute story." With a genuine smile planted on her face.

"Thank you." Veronica responded, "Well it's time for you youngsters to get to bed; got lots of things to do tomorrow."

Most of the time Adira, Tyler, Madison and Eva would be rather offended if someone called them youngsters just because they never liked the words or most of the time elderly people would use it to yell at kids but none of them seemed to mind Veronica calling them youngsters.

They all walked together through the hallways and up the stairs but separated when they got back to their rooms. That night all of them went to bed. Richie and Dan back in their rooms knocked out as soon as their faces hit the bed. Jade, Madison and Tyler knocked out five minutes after they got settled and stopped arguing. While Adira and Chad laid in their usual spot on the couch just relaxing and slowly falling asleep.

A day later, Tyler, Jade and Madison all were the first ones to wake up while Adira and Chad were still asleep all tangle up on the couch. The three awaken kids left on the room on their own to go get something to since Tyler's stomach wouldn't stop making a dying whale sound from the moment he woke up. Adira woke up before Chad and only a few minutes after Tyler, Jade and Madison had left. Adira slide out from underneath Chad pushing his arm away from her face so she could sit up. When she stood to her feet, rubbing her eyes to clear the fog that covered her sight his arm slide off of her torso and dropped to the couch with a light thump.

She walked into the bathroom closing the door behind her and doing whatever she needed to do in there. Chad was sitting up in the couch rubbing his eyes when she walked out of the bathroom. He looked up at her as she took a seat next to him and leaned on him putting her chin on his shoulder.

"Where did they go?" Chad asked his voice tired and raspy, he pointed to the bed.

Adira looked over at the bed for a few seconds before shrugging, "Breakfast maybe." She guessed, "Or with Richie and Dan. As long as they are all together I'm not worried."

Adira glanced at Chad, her face inches away from his. She carefully looked him over from his neck all the way to his eyes. She pointed her finger at him and slowly moved in closing the gap between her finger and his cheek. When she was centimeters away she gently but quickly poked him in the cheek causing him to turn to look at her. He didn't ask her why she poked him or anything; he just stared at her taking in every inch of her.

She wrapped her arm around his lower back and took a deep breath then exhaled slowly before adjusting herself a little before actually speaking, "There are dead bodies in the basement." She told him slowly not knowing what he might say.

They sat in silence as she waited for his response. The two stared each other down neither of them looked away.

Chad finally shrugged, "Infected?"

"Tyler found a body." She told him, "A human not an infected. He hasn't even turned."

He gave her a confused look, "Are you sure he wasn't bitten and they, you know..." He held his hand up to his head and formed a gun with his hand.

She shook her head, "No Tyler couldn't find a bite at all. From what I could see he was shot point blank in the back of the head."

"Maybe it was an enemy?" He shrugged not even believing his own words.

"Why would they toss him in the basement though?" She questioned, "You would think they would burn their enemies not dump them underneath the building."

There was another pause between the two enough for Chad to wrap his head around what she was telling him.

"Tyler and I plan on going back down there to examine the body even more." She informed him sucking in a breath.

"What?" He questioned her, "Why? What is there to examine?"

Adira shrugged while sitting up straight when he moved away from her to look at her, "I want to know. I want to see if we missed something. Maybe he was infected and we didn't search right. I want to know if he was actually infected or just... Killed." She admitted.

"Why does that matter?"

"I don't want my niece and nephew around killers, Chad." She told him, "I'm not going to put them in danger."

"Okay says you examine the body then what?" Chad asked one of his eyebrows goes up as his eye below it widens.

"If I believe he was killed and the evidence points to something fishy, we are leaving." She said truthfully, "If not and we find he was infected or sick, we stay."

"Oh my god." Chad letting out a huge breathe he inhaled, his head going back to the point where he is looking up at the sky.

"And you can't tell anyone." Adira pointed, "Not Richie, Dan, Eva, Veronica no one."

"Why?"

"If that poor guy's death wasn't an accident, the people might know and might end up covering it up." Adira informed him

"Adira, you are paranoid." Chad tried to tell her.

"Maybe-" She didn't deny it, "But I rather be safe than sorry."

Chad sighed, "Fine, okay." He caved in, "When do you guys plan on going back down?"

"I don't know." She shrugged, "I haven't talked about it to Tyler yet but sometime soon."

"Fine let me know, kay."

"Alright."

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me while we're still alone?" Chad asked.

"Well." Adira dragged out standing up and walking towards the bed.

Chad let out a nervous sigh and allowed his head to go back once more, "Oh my god what have you done?" He questioned, his head coming back to face her.

Adira stood at the end of the bed leaning back against it. She stood with one ankle over the other, her arm held on to the bed frame her elbow going forward in an uncomfortable looking position. Her head was tilted as she didn't look at him.

The more Chad stared at her, the more he was getting nervous as to what she was going to say. He leaned forward propping his elbows on his knees and put his hands together as they covered his mouth. Adira was hesitating on telling him, he was mentally going through what she could have done that could be bad.

"Ciras didn't trip and hit his head...." Adira said slowly.

Chad didn't reply back quickly; instead, he blinked at her as if trying to process what she had said. She stood there staring back at him waiting for him to say something.

"What do you mean he didn't trip?" He asked, "You said he did even Kendrick and Kyle said he was drunk."

"Well that part isn't wrong but Ciras didn't get that wound to the head because he fell."

"Then how'd he get it?" His eyebrows were raised just as much as his body had risen.

"I smacked him over the head with the rock." She confessed.

"What?" He stood up his voice raised a little, "You knocked their leader unconscious. Who the hell knows what they might do if they find out." He freaked.

"You can't tell them." Adira straightened up quickly, "Tyler and I agreed not to tell and neither can you."

He walked up to her his hands together in front of his chest. He was about to speak but turned around for just a second before turning back around ready to say something. When he didn't know what to say he closed his mouth and held his connected hands up to his lips. He took a deep breath and put his hands lying on its side allowing all figures to point to her with his hands still pressed together.

"Tell me what happened and why'd you do it?" Chad spoke carefully, "And don't leave anything out."

She explained to him exactly what had happened from when they went down there in the basement all the way to when she had smacked the rock right into Ciras's temple. She didn't leave anything out nor over exaggerate any part of the story.

When she was done informing him of the events that morning, she sucked in a breath as she ran out of breath telling the story. He stood there in front of her and didn't miss a thing she had told him. He didn't reply at first instead he let the information process in his head and gave himself a little bit more time to come up with something to say. The only thing he could come up with was it was self defense and that's exactly what he told her. Because it was and Tyler or she did anything wrong besides protected themselves against a drunken man.

"Even if it was self defense, we can't tell anyone." Adira repeated, "I still gave the man a concussion and knocked him out cold. He won't be up for weeks maybe months or never." She stated, "We don't know what some of them might do."

Chad let out a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well what do we do?"

"Like I said, we don't tell anyone. We keep this between us no one else." She stated slowly, "Tyler and I will go examine the body down below and see how he died. As for Ciras, we do not mention it, okay?"

Chad nodded agreeing with her. He began to breathing out the word okay multiple times. Soon enough silence fell upon them. The only noise that was heard was footsteps and a few chatters on the other side of the door that muffled their voices. Some fainted as they continued walking while others came then soon fainted again.

The pair looked at each other, their chest rising and falling. The sound of Chad's stomach growling sliced through the silent room. Both of them look down at his stomach and Chad shushed it. Soon both their laughter filled the room when his stomach grumbled once more ignoring Chad's demand to be quiet.

"Let's go get breakfast, hungry." Adira joked when she pounced back from the laughter and ache that filled her stomach, "We'll talk about this with Tyler."

Chad smiled a little embarrassed and wrapped his arm around Adira's shoulder when she waved him to come. They left the room wrapped in each other's arm, moving passed people coming and going. As they made their way to the cafeteria, they were greeted with soft sweet hellos and morning from people they passed along with a few sweet small smiles.

They opened the door to the first floor and when they got to the lobby, they found Tyler and Madison staring at the self playing grand piano. They were immobile while doing so and it looked as if they were statues put there to be disguised as if some visitors were actually amazed by it.

"What are you two weirdoes doing?" She asked walking up to them and wrapping her arms around both.

"I remember when we first came to this hospital because grandma had to pick up her meds" Tyler started completely ignoring Adira's question, "I was so scared of this piano because I thought it was a ghost."

Madison nodded, "It scared me to the point where I refused to step foot in this hospital."

"And then your mom took you to church and now you think ghosts are demons." Adira mocked, the memory of them first being into church coming back to her.

"They are." Madison in a none jokingly way said, looking up to at Adira, "Ghost don't exist only demons and Angels."

"Ghost do exist, Madi." Adira disagreed with her, "Did you not meet our family from grandma's side; they exist."

"No they don't." Madison argued, "Grandma and her family were attracting demons. Her side of the family was dark and all emo or gothic. Those old women were coo coo. " She said making her finger go up to the side of her head and make air circles. "If you know what I mean."

Adira found it funny they were arguing about whether ghost exists or not. Whether there are people who die and those that don't get punished by going further beneath the earth and into hell, going to heaven above the sky, if they do well or are just rooming around the earth's surface living along side living humans in another dimension. She didn't mind it at all; in fact, she enjoyed it even though it frustrated her to death. The arguments made her really sit down and think about what they were arguing about.

She was never one to openly talk about God or comfortable talking about it, like her niece and nephew. But half the time, she didn't mind debating it to her niece and nephew or anyone willing to debate about it so long as it isn't something one doesn't talk about often. Sometimes they would even bring up some good points that she had to admit was pretty entertaining. Madison and Tyler usually did it just to irritate her but half the time all they got was them being chased down then sat on, having to endure her full weight on them.

"I am done with you too." Adira said not willing to let this conversation drag on any longer, "We're going to go get breakfast." She motioned to herself and Chad, "You guys already eat?"

"Yeah and now I am full." Tyler told her sticking out his gut and letting out a big sigh to exaggerate his point.

"I'm hungry." Madison piped up.

"You're always hungry." Adira mumbled as she walked away from her, knowing Madison was shooting daggers into her back.

The closer they got to the cafeteria the more the smell of eggs and ham smoothly rooming through the halls of the hospital. Even the sound of muffled chatter became clear and the sound of utensils and dished clicking against each other filled the halls as well. They did everything just like everyone else did: they got in line, grabbed their food, sat down enjoyed their breakfast and chatted.

Even when they were finished with their food, had thrown away any scraps and put the plates and utensils back to where they were supposed to be; they still decided to stay in the cafeteria and relaxed.

It became lunch time until they noticed how long they really have been there because people started coming in once again and getting in line. Adira glanced at the clock behind the soldiers that were serving the food unconsciously and noticed it at twelve o'clock exact. She bolted up and out of her seat.

"I need to go release Dr. Yoshika from babysitting." Adira said it just ringing in her head what he had asked, "I'll see you at dinner?" She questioned Chad, who was looking up at her.

"Yeah." Chad answered with a smile and a nod.

Adira bent over gave him a quick peck on the lips before taking off out of the cafeteria, leaving Chad by himself for the remainder of the day.

Adira knocked on the door gently and waited for someone to answer it. When she heard the door knob move and jingle around, she stood straight up facing the door, which seconds later slowly pulled opened to reveal a tired and stressed Dr. Yoshika. He was looking down at a clip board and from what Adira could see was a patient chart for Ciras. He greeted her but his voice came off distant and like he wasn't fully there.

"Dr. Yoshika, you could go-." Adira started but was cut off and followed him inside the room and shutting the door behind her.

She watched as he continued to pace around the room staring at the clipboard he held in his hands.

"Dr. Yoshika?" She asked carefully, "Are you okay?"

He briefly glanced at Adira before looking behind her towards the monitor that was hooked up to Ciras's body then back at his clipboard. Adira turned around to see what he was looking at and saw the monitor. She noticed Ciras's breathing was going down and so was his heart rate. His blood pressure everything on that monitor was lowering.

"He's not improving." Adira whispered but loud enough that Yoshika heard.

Yoshika hummed in response, "I don't know what to do." He finally spoke, "No one has ever not improved under my watch; they always improved." His voice fainted.

"Do you guys do MRI?" She questioned to him.

"I never used one before. " He admitted, "I don't even know where that would be in this hospital. We haven't been here that long. Would that even work?"

"Why wouldn't it?" She questioned back giving him a weird look.

"That would take a lot of energy and I don't want the hospital losing electricity or shutting down."

"Hospitals don't ever shut down." Adira informed him, "They have multiple backup generators in case the main power shuts off. They were built to stay up in case of emergencies."

"Do you know how to use an MRI?"

"Yeah, I've played around with one before." She admitted.

"Okay." Yoshika let out the breath he's been holding in not realizing she just had said she'd played around with a machine, "I'll go look around see where one would be located and come back we could move him there get one started."

"After lunch." She responded.

"What?" He turned around already half way out the door.

"When you are done with your lunch." She turned around and repeated to him.

"Oh." He said his voice less excited, "Are you sure?"

"Yup." She answered, "While you're at it also get Madison and Tyler to help you find one, they know what it looks like." She commanded softly, "They should be in the cafeteria eating."

"Okay." Dr. Yoshika took a deep breath, "I'll be back in a few. Oh William needs his stitches from his eyebrow removed." He said walking out.

"I got it. Eat lunch!" She called out after him and the door closed shut leaving Adira with three unconscious men.

She turned back to all of them and looked at each unconscious body in the room. She washed her hands over at the sink before going to the cabinet to grab the medical scissors then walking up to William. The skin had three stitches in it and Adira looked at it making sure it was healing right and okay to cut them out. She saw no sign of infection or unhealed skin so she began cutting each stitch out and pulling it out while doing so.

When she was done, she threw them in the trash, put away the scissors and walked back up to him examining him. It was the first time she actually got a chance to take in his features. All of it to his straight narrow nose not to thin but not to pointy either, his skinny face with his strong cheekbones stood out and his face was narrow that it fit his perfectly light pink lips on it. A five o'clock shadow covers his narrow jaw line.

The dry blood that dripped to his left side of his lips and chin brought her back and stopped her from staring any longer than she should have been. She quickly turned away walking back to the sink and grabbing napkins to hold underneath the warm water. She soaked the napkin and squeezed out access water then made her way back to William's side. She took a seat in the rolling stool and got a bit closer to where she could clean off his face.

She began to wipe his face with the warm napkin gently, his lips pulled to the side oh so slightly. Unconsciously, with every stroke her face got closer to his sleeping face and she examined his face even more. She took in every feature and aspect of his perfectly flawless white skin.

It wasn't until his eyes slowly opened up that she had realized how close she had gotten. His eyes blinked a few times his blue and green orbs held their spot staring up at the white plain ceiling above him before flickering to the corner of his eyes to see Adira right there.

"Adira?" He whispered his voice weak and confused.

Adira just smiled as he continued to stare at her from the corner of his eyes without moving his head. She was done with wiping the dried blood off his face and stood up to throw the napkins in the trash and went back to her spot.

"How you feeling?" She finally spoke after giving him a moment to get himself together. Her voice was soft and relaxing but cracked a little.

"I'm not dead so.." He trailed off still not moving.

"You in pain?"

He was silent for a moment before shaking his head, "No."

"Can you move?"

William tried to sit up even more but pain shot through his right rib cage, which sent him back down, "My rib hurts." He hissed, holding his side.

"Fractured rib." Adira informed him, "Now will be a time to tell you, your left wrist is broken too."

William lifted his left arm and saw a cast on it.

"Your knee is also injured with a sprain along with you ankle but as soon as we get you walking and stretching again you should make a full recovery."

It went quiet again. Nothing but soft breathing filled the room. Adira noticed William was stopping his ribs from expanding and only breathed in so little.

"Don't do that." She told him, causing him to turn and look at her, "You need to allow yourself to take deep breathes to expand your ribs and lungs." She stood up walked over to the cabinet pulling out a short white bottle from it before putting some pills in her palm and putting it back. She walked over to the foot of the bed and held out an open palm with two little oval pills in the center, "Pain killers. You need to do breathing exercises so you could heal properly."

He took the pills from her and popped them into his mouth while she went to grab a cup of water for him and held that out to him too. He took the cup, took a sip and swallowed the pills. He held the plastic clear small cup in his lap and stared at the teen before him. He tilted his head to the side allowing his lips to pull into a slight smirk. From his point of view, Adira reminded him of a nurse or doctor with the way she spoke to him and her body language.

Adira could have fooled him for a nurse or doctor if they weren't in the scenario they were in now. Her outfit of black tight fitting long sleeve that went slightly past her elbow and her well fitted jeans would have been a dead giveaway she wasn't a nurse but if she had white coat. She could pass for one and it made him smile for who knows what reason.

He was practicing the deep breathing exercise as he thought about Adira being a doctor or a nurse. Soon as he thought long and hard about it, the stabbing feeling in his lungs seemed to seize.

"What's your last name?" He tilted his head.

"Colt." She simply answered her eyebrows pulling into a frown, "Why?" She added.

"Dr. Colt." He thought about it, "Nurse Colt." He thought about it once more in silence, "You could've been a doctor." He commented, "You have a good last name to be one."

"Okay." She mumbled to herself, "How's your ribs?" She asked checking on his ribs.

"Fine it stopped hurting." He answered, "Did you want to be a doctor?" He suddenly asked, "Or go into the medical field?" He added with a shrug.

"No." Adira answered as she checked on Ciras's injury making sure it was getting better but she couldn't tell, "I really wasn't into the whole medical thing as much as everyone else seemed to be." She added after a few minutes of silence.

"Everyone else?" He asked confused, "For someone who doesn't want to be in the medical field, you know a lot of medical stuff."

"Didn't." She corrected him.

"What?" He said turning to look at her that's when he noticed Ciras laying right next to him, "What happened to him?" He gasped quickly when he took in Ciras unconscious body, "When did he get here?"

"Um- a day or two ago after the herd came towards the hospital." She said looking from Ciras to William.

"What happened?"

She contemplated whether or not she should tell the truth or not for just a moment, "He was drinking outside of the hospital and tripped. Hit his head right on a rock." She lied through her teeth.

"Well who's in charge?" He questioned right after she spilled the last word.

"Kendrick and Kyle." She answered, "Well at least for the runners and soldiers. Veronica, on the other hand, is in charge of everything." She informed him.

Silence sat between them just for a few minutes.

"Until you or Ciras get better to take leadership." Adira added.

Once William heard those answers he pulled the cover off of him and threw his legs over the bed revealing his naked torso and bare legs. Adira immediately rushed to his side lifting his legs back up forcing him back but he struggled with her and refused to get back under the covers.

"William, you need to stay down and let your legs rest." She said pushing him back down.

"My people need me." William said forcing himself up even through the pain that shot through his chest, "I have to get up."

Adira and William fought both pushing each other back and forth, off and on the bed. They struggled for a good 10 minutes before another strong pain shot through William's ribs causing him to fall back into bed. Adira helped put his legs back up and put the covers over him as quickly as possible.

"Deep slow breathes." Adira instructed him putting another pillow behind him.

William did as told. He slowly breathed in even when his lungs expanded and he felt a sharp poke he stopped a few seconds before taking in more air. He then slowly exhaled and felt better. He did it again and again until he repeated the process ten times over taking short breaks in between. Adira had explained to him that he must do that every day until his ribs heal themselves and instructed him to stay in bed until she felt he was able to stand up and his ankle wouldn't get any worse.

She advised him to stay in bed until tomorrow when she checks on his ankle to see if it's healing and if it's getting better. If it wasn't swollen and the swollenness went down she'll let him out of bed but if not he must stay in bed. William agreed and sat still in bed. He let his head drop back into the soft pillow that fit his head perfectly and let out a deep breath.

Just then the door burst open and in walked a relaxed yet out of breath Tyler. Both of their heads quickly turned to look at him and he stared back.

He spoke with a simple, "Look who's awake." He grinned showing coral teeth and distinct sharp fangs.

"How long have I been out?" William asked immediately turning his head to Adira.

"A day or two." She shrugged.

"We found the MRI machine." Tyler told her, "Do we take him now?"

"Yes the sooner the better." She said, "Get Dr. Yoshika, Chad and a few other soldiers to help move him to a gurney." She commanded, "Oh and grab a gurney too." She added realizing there is no gurney in the room.

Tyler nodded, "Good to see you up." He said to William before leaving the room.

"MRI?" William asked shooting his confused eyes at Adira.

"Magnetic resonance imaging." She answered, "We need to see whether or not he has broken his skull or any blooding in the skull."

Just in that moment, Dr. Yoshika and Tyler, along with two soldiers Kyle and Christopher, walked into the room Kyle and Christopher pushing in the gurney. They barely noticed conscious William in the bed when they walked around the bed and was getting ready to transfer Ciras from the bed to the gurney. Adira pushed the gurney in front of her and Dr. Yoshika trying to get the gurney as close to the bed as possible so they don't have to be lifting him up for long.

They all gripped the bed sheet underneath Ciras body and the blanket covering him. Kyle and Christopher were between William and Ciras's bed, Adira and Dr. Yoshika on the outside and Tyler at the foot of the bed. They all looked at each other and got more grip on the blankets before nodding at each other. With that they heaved him up and moved him as fast as they can onto the gurney and put him gently down as possible.

"Wow he's heavy." Adira commented to know one in particular, "Alright." She breathed out, "Take him down to where the MRI machine is and get him set up." She ordered speaking to Tyler.

The two soldiers, one on each side of the gurney, pushed the gurney out followed by Tyler and Dr. Yoshika.

"I'll be there in a sec." She called out before turning back to William, "Hey-" She said going over to the counter and grabbing the bag of peas and ran it under cold water, "I'm ganna need you to-" She turned off the sink and turned back to William, "-Keep this on your-" William fainted when she held out the peas.

Her shoulders slumped down and her arm dropped to her sides before she went up to him. She checked him, making sure he wasn't in any need of medical attention. When she found nothing wrong, she took it as him going unconscious from the pain. She let out a sigh and pulled down the covers revealing his torso. She applied the cold peas to his swollen and bruised ribs but they slipped off of him when she let go. She stood there glaring at the peas that were by his side resting on top of his forearm. She immediately put down his bed oh so slightly until the peas finally stayed on his ribs.

She checked him once more before looking over at Carry's brother making sure he was still breathing before leaving the room and catching up to the group when she found Tyler waiting for her in the lobby.

A few minutes after they arrived in the MRI room, Ciras was already in the bed going into the machine while everyone hung out in another part of the room behind a wall separating Ciras from the others. Adira, Tyler and Dr. Yoshika both watched through the glass as Ciras went in the machine smoothly. Dr. Yoshika paid more attention to the images that were one the screen than Ciras the very moment the pictures came in.

All three of them were now looking at the image of Ciras's brain on the screen. They were waiting patiently to see what would pop up and whether or not they could fix whatever was happening to him. After a few minutes of watching, Adira finally spotted something that she knew was unusual to see in the brain.

"He has hemorrhage." Adira concluded.

"What?" Dr. Yoshika asked.

"Hemorrhage is what he has." She told him more confidently, "He has bleeding in the brain."

"How can you tell?" Dr. Yoshika asked her looking back at the image on the screen, "I don't see anything."

"The light or white part is an indication of Hemorrhage." She said pointing to a white spot on the left side of Ciras brain.

"Can we do anything?" Tyler asked.

"Where on the left side is it though?" Adira asked wondering her face getting closer to the screen as she continues to think, "Yea we can but it requires surgery but I might not be able to do it out of fear I may damage some part of the brain depending on where it is."

Clicking noises ringed through the room from Tyler clicking a few buttons on the computer. The image went from the top of the head to the left side of the head revealing where on the left side the hemorrhage was.

"Oh." Adira let out a sigh of relief.

"What?" The two asked in sync.

"The Hemorrhage is close enough to the skull to where I really don't have to cut too deep into the brain." She informed them, "We would have to get the surgery going right away before he gets any worse."

"When do you want to attempt it?" Dr. Yoshika asked looking at her dead in the eye, "Do you even want to try it?"

Adira huffed out a breath, standing up straight and put her hands on her hips, "Hm-" She hummed, "We should see what the others think first because I rather not attempt surgery on a group leader and kill him without them knowing."

"So I'll go set up a group meeting in the cafeteria?" He said more as a question than a statement. He looked over at her waiting to see what her reply would be.

"Yeah." Adira agreed, "We need a group decision and if they can't come up with one it's up to Veronica whether or not we get the go ahead." She said walking out of the room to get Ciras back into the room.

Dr. Yoshika and Tyler followed her and calling the soldiers back to help. They got Ciras back into the nursing room where William and Carry's brother were at. When they got there, Adira required the soldiers and Dr. Yoshika to inform everyone about a meeting in the cafeteria at dinner time. They did as told and left Tyler and her in the office.

William was still asleep. His soft breathing filled the room and his body laid still as the two probably ever had seen. Adira let out a deep breath when Tyler spoke.

"What do you think their decision might be?" Tyler asked curiously looking slightly up at Adira.

She shrugged, "If they want their leader to survive then they have to go through with the surgery." She paused, "If not, then we leave him and he dies." She told him calmly, "Not like it matters anyways, they have William." She looked over at William's resting body.

Tyler nodded, "You think you'll be able to just let a man die if they decide not to go through with the surgery?"

She took another deep breath, "I don't care for the man." She admitted but Tyler already knew that, "Doesn't matter to me, once William fully recovers-" She lowered her voice as if the unconscious bodies surrounding them can hear them, "-and we check out that body we found downstairs-" She began walking towards the door, "We're leaving and not staying here any longer." Her voice was no longer quiet as she glanced back at William before opening the door, "We better go let the group know what's going on." She left the room.

Tyler looked back at all three guys that were unconscious and left, following Adira out and shutting the door.

When the door clicked shut, William had opened his eyes, skimmed around and sat up straight. The bag of now warm peas slipped off of his ribs and on to the mattress next to him. He kept himself prompt up with his arms and just stared at the door. He had heard what Adira had said and wondered why they wanted to leave so quickly. He gazed around looking at Ciras and wondering if he'd make it. It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen if he did die since he was such a dominant leader.

But did he really want all the pressure and responsibility of his group on his shoulders?

It wasn't the first time Ciras had been in a bad situation but it was the first he was on the verge of death. William understood how being a leader could take a toll on someone, especially when one of his own dies.

Did he want to go through that again?

As far as the meeting goes, everyone was gathering in the cafeteria once again. The soldiers were already gathered in the cafeteria and half the civilians were there with them waiting for the meeting to start. The other half were still walking in trying to find seats, whisper and chatter filled the air, the smell of canned beans, steamed vegetables and peanut butter filled everyone's nostril's as they walked into the cafeteria.

When everyone was seated and everyone quieted down, the meeting had begun and Dr. Yoshika stepped forward in the middle of the room. As he explained the situation to everyone, he was stuttering and was fidgety with his fingers. He didn't stand up straight and still, like Veronica or Kyle and Kendrick, instead he was constantly swaying back and forth, his shoulders down and was slouching.

He really is a timid little man. Adira thought while watching Dr. Yoshika speak.

"So we ask you all for your decision on the surgery." Dr. Yoshika voice boomed through the cafeteria, "But it has to be quick. If you guys want us to go ahead and take the risk, we will start the surgery immediately. If not, we will see if Ciras gets any better on his own but from the looks of it he won't recover." He finally finished, "But it is up to all of you." He added.

When he spoke no longer, everyone started throwing questions at him all at once causing his head move a mile per minute in every direction, his eyes widen and he took multiple steps back.

"Do you even know how to the surgery?" One man shouted at him.

"Who will do the surgery?" A woman asked, "We don't have a surgeon."

"Um." Was all Dr. Yoshika could say with everyone talking all at once as he looked around at everyone.

"I will." Adira spoke up taking the audience eyes off of him and on to her, "Dr. Yoshika will help me on the surgery but I will not do it, if you people say not to."

"How would we know you are able to do it?" One of the members questioned, "How would we know you might not end up killing him?"

"You don't that's a risk." She admitted now standing right next to Dr. Yoshika, "But not doing anything at all will definitely kill him."

She looked at everyone, who turned to each other and started whispering.

"But that doesn't matter because William will make a full recovery." She had informed them, "He's in and out of consciousness but he will be okay. His sprain and broken ribs, ankle and wrist will heal in no time. As for Ciras, the surgery could either kill him or save his life but that is for you people to make the choice and take the risk but do remember without the surgery he will die. He is not getting any better and he will only be getting worse until death. The blood is building up in his brain close enough to the skull as it possibly can, which means I will be able to drain the blood without damaging the brain."

They turned to each other once more and began whispering again. Among the people sitting next to each other, they argued and discussed what their decision should be. Adira made it clear what needed to be discussed and what choices they had so she walked away. Letting them all know she will not do the surgery without their permission and will let them make up their minds before doing anything. She also let them no she will not be responsible for his death in anyway even with the surgery.

With letting everyone know Ciras only has a short time until the blood kills him, her group followed her out the cafeteria and while the civilians were talking, Adira and her group were talking among themselves. While they were walking up the stairs, Adira looked over the railing to the floors below so curious and so impatient to find out what happened to the body that was down there. When she looked back up, she noticed Tyler and Chad looking at her.

They had gotten to the room they stayed in and talked among themselves about what they think the groups in the cafeteria were going to do. They also questioned whether or not Adira was actually going to go through with the surgery if they decided to let her do it.

Instead of answering, she got up from her seat on the bed and walked over to Chad, who was sitting on one of the single couches. She leaned over to whisper in his ear telling him she was going to take Tyler with her to the basement and check out the body below. Chad nodded and almost immediately she motioned for Tyler to come with her but didn't tell him where, even though he already could take a pretty good guess.

With no word to the others, they left the room, making their way to the basement while they can. It was their chance to discover whether the hospital people were sketchy or not without being noticed as the hospital group was in the cafeteria trying to make a decision. Knowing people, Adira knew it was going be a while for a bunch of different people with different views to come to a decision. Enough time for them to examine the body a little more and make it seem as if they were never down there in the first place.

As they walked through the door leading to the basement, Adira slipped out two small flashlights out of her pocket and handed one to Tyler. They clicked their flashlights on and they went through the door they found the body behind.

The flashlights made it a lot easier to see and a lot more comfortable for their eyes since they didn't have to strain their eyes so much just to see. Adira went back to the wound to the back of the head and when she saw it with the light flashed on it, it was confirmed what she had first thought. He was shot point blank in the back of the head. The bullet wound was faded red color with unorganized little dark specks surrounding the wound.

Tyler nudged Adira oh so slightly but enough for Adira to look up at him. He pointed down at the dead man's neck where there was a clear red thick doubled lined marking. Their almost matching eyes met with a glimpse of knowing. With the help of Tyler, Adira flipped the man around to face them where they were met by his could dead eyes, pale cold dead skin and a fully wrapped red marks around his neck.

The more they looked at the body closely and with more light, the more they found more evidence that the man wasn't killed for being an infected and Adira wanted to know whether he was an enemy or an allie.

Tyler lifted up the dead man's shirt revealing scratch marks all over his body, defense wounds on his arms and a few bruises on his legs.

"Defense wounds." Adira told Tyler pointing to the scratches and bruises on his arms and legs, "This man was restrained at one point."

Tyler ran his fingers over the cold limbs and looked closely trying to remember what they looked like in case he had to examine a body. Both their heads snapped up as they heard a door clicking shut echo through the halls in the direction they came from. They faintly heard footsteps hitting the marbled floor and they froze. Adira looked down at the body trying to listen closely to the footsteps, trying to indicate where they were going.

The footsteps got louder and heavier. The more Adira focused on her hearing the more she could just sense the direction the person was going. Adira looked up in direction the footsteps were coming from and the slight movements of a shadow reflecting on the wall made Adira take Tyler's arm in her grip.

Before the person can actually make their way to the doors, Adira pulled Tyler to his feet and forward away from the corridor doors into the hall across from them. She turned right shoving Tyler first making his back hit the wall. They waited for a sign, a noise to indicate of the man getting closer.

The door to the corridors clicked open. The two teens slowly and as quietly as they could step away from the hallway keeping their backs on the wall. They moved down the hallway keeping eyes on the hallway. When the doors clicked shut and footsteps were heard coming closer to their location. They slide over a door and when it came into Adira's sight she twisted the knob seeing if it was open. When it clicked, she quickly opened it up and tossed Tyler in the room followed by her.

She closed the door but left a slight crack enough to see in the hallway but closed enough to cover them. The two slowed their breathing down so they weren't breathing so hard and they could focus on hearing for the footsteps.

"Hello." The male voice called out footsteps following second afterwards.

The footsteps got louder and louder with every step it took closer to them. Adira was standing straight against the wall while Tyler was crouched down leaning forward a bit in order to see out into the hallway. From the wall just across from them, they could see a shadow reflect off the wall and it grew bigger. Adira pressed herself against the wall even more trying hard not to be seen or heard. Tyler pushed his back against the wall and didn't dare stand back up afraid he would make a sound if he did.

The man appeared in sight walking down the hallway continuously looking around carefully. The man's action sent Adira an unease vibe. Tyler leaned slightly forward once more to see the man. When the man came into Tyler's sight, Tyler's eyes widen in recognition.

Okay. So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. 35pg long.

Again, leave a comment below tell me your opinion on it. I'd love to read your feedback. Also, if there are any mistakes that I may have missed please be kind as to let me know that way I could fix my mistake. Like and comment :)

Now its 12:38 over here and I am tired. So that is all that I am posting for tonight and will try to post the very last one tomorrow.