"No problem. I don't think I mind crazy at the minute. Besides It'll be interesting to meet him, considering how much a badass you told me he was." She added before fixing the gear for the road.
"It's quite beautiful up here. You must've had a fun childhood here."

"Yeah. We'd always take our vacations up here, even if it meant not coming back down to the city for a few weeks or so," Adries replied with a smile, "There is always fun stuff to do. We have our own dock that is next to the river, so fishing is always an option. Hunting is fun. Driving the ATVs around, building little forts. It's great."
Adries looked around the property as they pulled up the long driveway. "Everything looks fine. This is probably the safest place. No zombies here."

"That must've been wonderful." Lisa agreed, noting the tone she had when Adries spoke of good times with her family. She gave a whistle when she reached the end of the driveway looking at the cabin.
"Nice. Well, ready to go in?" She asked parking the car fairly near the entrance.

"Yeah, and it seems we'll be getting a warm welcome," Adries said, pointing to the front porch as a man opened up the door and strolled towards them. Adries jumped out of the car and ran over to him, giving him a big hug. She led him to Lisa and said, "Lisa, this is my Uncle Albert. Uncle Al, this is my friend Lisa."

"Hello there little miss," Albert said with a slight drawl, extending his hand out to her. He was a big man, easily dwarfing the two of them. His outfit was a little weird, wearing a pastel purple and yellow shit with a brown flannel shirt over it. He wore black leather pants and white, seemingly snakeskin, boots. He had a sharp face yet had kind eyes, with his greying hair and wrinkles showing his age.
He scratched his handlebar mustache as he beckoned them to come inside. "More rain comin'," he said.

"Nice to meet you sir." Lisa said shaking the hand warmly and closing the car door behind her. As they approached the door she wiped her boots on the welcome mat beforehand. Looking up, it seemed he was right, the sky had dark grey clouds rolling over the horizon. She followed Adries and Albert inside the shack.

"So, what brings you two here?" Albert asked as he took a seat in what appeared to be the den.
"Nostalgia," Adries replied, "But, seriously did Alan come by?"
"Well, no. I mean the tracker showed that he was around here a bit, but he never came to visit."
"Shit! Well that suc-wait tracker?"
"Yeah, your daddy had them put one on you in case anything bad ever happened. That's why I was waiting at the door for ya'."
"That bitch! I knew that doctor's appointment wasn't just for a 'check-up'. Fuck. Wait, so where is Alan now? He was kidnapped and stuff!?"
"Well now, let's see," Albert said, getting up and leaving them for a few moments before coming back with a small GPS, "Seems he's only a few miles from here. Close to the river."
"That was easier than expected. I guess he did escape."

Jack found a computer in the clinic and immediately searched for any biotechnology firms in the city. He found three within the area of infection, but couldn't get a roster of people who worked there. He was going to have to go to city hall if he wanted to know that. He got back in the hummer and started to drive back into the city.

"Good job Alan." Lisa muttered as she looked around the warm living room, a feeling of relief raising in her chest. She then turned to face her.

"Hey Adries, that whole directions decision turned out better than we thought huh? So are we going to pick him up? Or should we just wait for him here?" She asked taking a seat on a sofa.

"We should probably go pick him up. Who knows what he's been through?" Adries asked as she got up, already getting worried again.

"You can take the ATVs if ya' want," Albert told them, showing them to the garage where three ATVs were stored. "They all should work. I'll stay here and hold down the fort. Get rid of anymore zombies that might find their way over here."

"Sounds good. Lisa, do you know how to drive one of these? It's not hard," Adries asked.

"Can't say I do. But I'm a quick learner. We'll take down anything we see heading this way." Lisa said to Albert, before approaching one of the bikes and getting onto it. She revved the motor, not sure whether she was confident or not, but slowly getting used to it.
"Adries, are we gonna need to bring the tracker?"

"He's by the river, right?" Adries asked Albert who replied with a yes. She turned to Lisa, "We won't need it then. I know exactly where he is." With that, she revved the engine and drove off. She slowed down when she remembered that Lisa didn't know how to handle it well, and waited for her to catch up.

Lisa panicked slightly when she sped off, she remembered and revved it again, gaining some speed, catching up with Adries and giving an apologetic look. She steered with more confidence now, but was still shaky. Adries led off to where she knew where Alan was with her following closely behind.

Alan had finally made it over the river, almost falling into it multiple times. 'Now another mile or less and I'll be fine,' he thought, following a small path. He walked it for a few minutes before stopping when he heard some engines revving and someone calling out his name.

"Over here!" he yelled, trying to find the people looking for him.

Over her engine she heard the muffled yelling from someone to south of them, carefully moving her hands to make a U-turn.
"Adries, I think I heard him! Over this way!" Lisa yelled over the noise and making the turn and going towards the direction where she had heard the voice.

Adries looked around and followed Lisa. In the distance she saw Alan, who was waving at them. They sped on over and met up.

"What's up?" Adries asked, coming to a stop in front of her brother.
"Argh, nothing that I want to talk about. I'm just so pissed right now. And tired. I was tasered! That really hurts!" Alan replied back, going over to Adries' ATV and taking a seat.

Lisa had that relieved feeling again after seeing him, she frowned when she heard about the taser, putting instant thought on Christie.
"It could've gone a lot worse. How did you escape...?" She started then thinking more straight, "Oh I think we should get back to the house first, before we get into details."

"That's a good idea," Alan said, holding onto the ATV as they sped back. Adries was clearly worried about her brother, causing her to drive slowly. They made it back to the cabin and led him in, setting him down on the couch.

"Hey there chap! Boy, you look a bit worse for wear," Albert said, coming into den and taking a seat next to Alan.

"He's had...a bad day." She said to Albert, standing near them.
"Alan, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it now, but what happened? Where did Christie and Jack go? Are they near here? How did you escape?" Lisa asked with a badly hidden worried tone.

"They're at some office building over to the north. Fuckers. Jack was a fucking retard, acting like he knows everything. 'Try to find an anti-viral,' No shit Sherlock you think one of the best scientists in the world didn't think of that. He's such a wanker," Alan said bitterly "And then something happened to Christie and Jack let me go. I shot him first though, just due to him pissing me off. I left him the keys to the hummer, so I guess he's probably in some town by now."

"Cool story bro," Adries said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm just glad you're alright."
"That seems to be some crazy shit goin' on," Albert said with a slight chuckle.

She gave a smile, he seemed alright. She took a seat in the adjacent arm chair and let out a deep yawn.
"It's safe to say that you gave us a heart attack. Thank god you're still kicking. I still can't believe what Jack did." Lisa added at first with a light tone then turning much more serious.

"He's such a bitch," Alan said angrily. He grabbed one of the seating pillows and lied down. "I think I'll take a nap. I'm just so tired."

"Well boy, you do that. You're safe here, that's for sure," Albert told him, putting his feet up on the coffee table.
"So, what's been happenin' with you guys?" he asked Lisa and Adries.

"To sum it up, looking for you. I saw them drive off, We met up in the library, drove around aimlessly after they decided they didn't want us following after you. We decided to head North to go here and if there was no sign of you continue up that way. We got here, found you on a tracker and picked you up. Fun." She explained, putting her hands in her pocket. She felt the note in one pocket and the pain medication in another.
"Oh yeah, you should take two of these before you sleep. I was planning to give them to you before this all happened." Lisa said pulling them out and handing the container to him.

Jack drove back into the city it took a couple hours bu he finally reached city hall and police headquarters. Jack walked up to the city hall building which still had power as well, he found the floor plan and found he would have to head to the third floor to find city employment records. He knew Alan's aunt would be registered because of her work with the government. Jack carefully walked through the building keeping his weapon at his side as he went up the stairs.

'Alan is a fool, thinks that just because his family can't find a vaccine right off the bat that its impossible. That isn't how vaccines work you idiot, they take decades of dedicated work, and your lazy ass gives up before the race even began. At least he hinted that his aunt would still be working to find one. This is better than any kind of public release.' Jack thought as he continued.

"Greatly appreciated," Alan replied, swallowing the pills. "This will really help due to the sheer amount of shit that I've had to grow through," he said happily, getting comfortable and resting.

"Well, atleast we're safe. For now," Adries said.
"You guys need anything? There is food here if you need some. Quite a bit," Albert told them, opening up a bottle of beer and chugging on it.

"I'm okay for the minute thanks. I might have something in a little while though." Lisa replied, remembering the last thing she had eaten. She tucked her feet up onto the chair, making sure not to leave a mark, she wasn't sure whether she was tired or not.
"I know I'm thinking further ahead than i should be. But where else could we go after this? I wouldn't want to leave this place but we all know that eventually we will need to ship out again...I'm sorry. I'm getting way too ahead here, We should be happy with this moment of safety."

"Well you guys are welcomed to stay as long as you can. Hey, I'll go cook some burgers for ya guys!" Albert said cheerfully, getting up and going to the kitchen. They heard some shuffling and the sliding door open.

"Hey, something that is actually tasty to eat!" Adries told Lisa, "I think we should just stay here. But, we also need to find my aunt and keep her safe. I just have no clue where she could be. Alan probably does though."

"Your uncle is really nice. I don't think i've seen anyone in this good a mood since this started." Lisa said with much approval, looking at the door he'd just left through then turning back to Adries.
"That would be great actually. Once Alan has rested up, we could ask him. If he knows, we'll go and get your aunt. Then come back here?" She checked.

"Heh. Yep, that is Uncle Albert. Always happy. He doesn't get too much company, so I guess we being here is nice for him. Also all the zombies he gets to kill probably relieves any tension," Adries replied, "He has enough guns and ammo here to supply him for awhile. I guess we can always come back here. I dunno."

"Well, when that bridge comes, we'll pass it. For now, our only problem is eating burgers, possibly a shower if that's not a problem, then getting a nap in for good measure i think. Considering that the last time we tried to sleep, a damned fire demon interrupted." Lisa spoke, stretching slightly in the chair.

"You're right. Now is time to relax. We certainly deserve it after all we've been through," Adries replied with a smile, settling into her seat. "I still can't help but think of what we'll do after this. We should probably bring everyone over here, safer than the school."

"You think that your uncle would be cool with it?" Lisa said curling up, deciding that she'd sleep soon.

She gasped for breath and she was thrown into consciousness. Her abdomen burned, the taste of copper over powered her. Christie was in hell.
"Jack, You son of a bitch!" She screamed in rage, but her pain could be highlighted.
She slowly and carefully rose up from the ground, her stomach searing with each movement. The only satisfaction on her mind was the growing violent ideas of what she was going to do to him. She reached for her first aid kit to find it missing.
"Fucker." She cursed, her voice thick with acid. She'd go for plan B.

(Night!)

Jack climbed the stairs through the building, it was even quieter than the police headquarters was.

'guess everyone evacuated and joined the cops as soon as the alarm was raised.' Jack thought

He made it up to the third floor and found the computer connected to the government workers. He searched the records for anyone with the last name Bixler and the list was seemingly endless.

'Well this is fucking lovely, at least there's a list of who they work for. Still gonna be a bitch.'

"He'd be fine. He likes company," Adries replied as Albert walked in telling them that the burgers were ready if they wanted to go outside and eat.

"Just like old times," Adries said happily, a new spring in her step.

She gave a small smile at Adries. She'd had it tough the past few days, it was good to see her like that. Lisa followed through into the dining room where she saw the burgers on the table. They smell was welcoming and familiar.
"Thanks a lot for this." She thanked Albert before taking a seat at the table.

"No problem there. I was getting hungry anyways but decided to wait until Adries got here," Albert replied, making his hamburger.

"You know I'm quite happy that we have that tracking device, although I'll probably want to get rid of it," Adries said, grabbing a soda from the cooler and sitting down on the porch.
"Well, it only works within a city-wide area for tracking. I noticed you guys have been going all around the city," he told them.
"Yes we have. And bad stuff usually happens."