Chris nodded. "Well, I guess that means that you've got a reason to head for CERN as well. Maybe we can get some answers there. In the meantime I've got to help the others find some petrol. See you guys in a bit; good talking to you."

And with that Chris got up and left the APC, heading after the others into the fog.

"This fog's fucking unnatural - it just came out of nowhere" Martin said quietly, glancing about for stealthy Z's. Scanning his surroundings, he noticed that the group seemed to have lost a member.

"Hey guys, have you seen Emerson? N-not that he can't take care of himself, but he charged ahead a while earlier and I haven't heard him in a while. And how the hell are we supposed to spot any petrol with this fog up?" he called out, noticing that the group seemed to be drifting apart.

'Might just be better to wait in the APC until it clears up...' he mused, but the idea of sitting in that steel tomb for God-knows-how-long kept him from vocalizing the thought.

Slowly pacing forward through the fog with his shotgun braced against his shoulder, Chris had a vague idea of where at least some of the rest of the group was. He heard one of them shout about Emerson disappearing. He tensed up, frowned and held his finger to the shotgun's trigger.

A few steps later he made out an outline in the fog. It slowly resolved itself into the silhouette of a person. Still tense, Chris lowered his gun slightly so it was pointing at the ground in front of the figure. "Think I've found him..." he called into the mist.

The figure said nothing, but began taking steps towards him. Chris raised the shotgun again as it continued approaching.

"Emerson?"

In reply the figure snarled grotesquely and lunged at him out of the fog, yellowed teeth bared from a disgusting, foetid head. Chris fired on instinct, the shot ringing out through the damp emptiness of the fog, and the zombie fell backwards with a hole in its chest.

Chris swallowed, pumped the shotgun handle and tugged another cartridge from his pocket to load into the tube. "It wasn't him," he yelled out to the others, "Zombie..."

Weapon raised and more apprehensive than ever, Chris proceeded further into the fog.

Jenna rubbed her arms to keep herself from freezing, it wasn't working. Not only was the atmosphere terrifying, but Jenna couldn't see anything. Her teeth rattled like a speeding train on a rusty track.

"Hey, uh, do you guys mind if I go back to the APC? Even just for a jacket?"

As soon as the bullet shot through the air, Jenna took grasp of her pistol.

"Nevermind..."

The mist was thick, but Emerson seemed to be able to see something through the mist. Bright lights, possibly that of the APC.

"I see something!", he shouted, "You lot stick together and I'll check it out."

Switching out his hunting rifle with his pistol, Emerson placed his flashlight underneath. The light stuck out in the fog, almost as if it were piercing through to get to him. Even in a zombie apocalypse, it was a surreal thing to see. However, as he trudged through the fog to get to the light, the mist around him seemed to close in. He was almost scared. Almost.

"There's something here.", he said to himself, "Zombies, maybe. Probally."

As he reached the blinding light, Emerson could make out that of an SUV. It's headlights burned through the fog, but it's contents seemed almost guarded behind it. He slowly made his way toward the window, and brushed the dew and condensation from it, to peer through. It's occupants were dead. Two children, both female, and if the wedding rings were anything to go by, a middle aged husband and wife. Emerson could smell fumes coming from the car, climbing out of the windows. It would seem that the family committed suicide together, instead of facing the zombies.

This is wrong. All of this.

By the time Emerson had looked away from the inside of the car, the fog seemed to have lightened. He could see the others, fairly near. He holstered his pistol, walking toward the group. Instead of stopping, infront of them, he nudged past Samuel.

"This is why I don't want you people with us. I try to keep these guys safe, and JT just lets you guys through for no reason other than your little puppy dog eyes. Don't expect me to accept you."

He walked off toward the general direction of the APC, now visible.

"You got your damn fuel. Happy?"

As the APC came back into view Chris slid the shotgun over his shoulder by the strap and rubbed his head before making the cynical observation to Emerson, "Well, you'll be glad to know that since I don't trust you with my life, I won't be asking you to look after it. I'll sleep whenever Sam's on watch until that ever changes."

Samuel heard his name being mentioned in the APC, but didn't really pay attention to it. He had forced open the tank of the SUV and was trying to catch the leaking fuel into several containers. He managed to get most of it, and made several trips between the car and the APC. Half of the gas got spilled on the way there, and Samuel was getting high on all the fumes. Even so, after ten minutes of walking he had enough fuel in the APC to get it running again.

He stepped inside the vehicle, putting the shotgun back in the weaponrack.

"Sorry Chris, I'm out for the night. I can't stand sleeping in small areas anymore." He said with a look.

"I'll head outside for the night."

Chris nodded. "Fair does. I guess that means I have first watch..." he sighed, then looked at Emerson, "Unless you've got any objections?"

"Nope, as long as someone is watch with you. We need atleast someone we can trust."

Emerson looked at JT, and cleared his throat.

"Not that JT would let me make any real decisions, power grabbing sod..."

Felix got up, walked across the APC and took a rifle from a locker. Checking for ammo he found it was empty, so he put in fresh and aimed it straight at a stray zombie that was at the doorway. With a single shot he left a bullet in its head, killing it.

"I can stand watch, if you want."

JT forgot the snarky comment he had prepared for Emerson as Felix killed the zombie, saving their asses with that shot. The APC was silent for at least half a minute afterwards.

"........ Does anyone else object to letting Felix take first watch?"

No one spoke up.

"Yeah, pick the little kid who can't fire straight to guard the APC! Maybe his tears will drown the zombies."

Emerson placed all of his weapons across the floor, checking each was loaded.

"I'll do it. It's not like I'll be able to sleep tonight anyway."

Jenna wandered through the fog until she bumped into a zombie. It stumbled and tried to grab her. Jenna quickly ducked and swung her foot into its gut, causing no damage at all. She frowned and shot two bullets into its chest but it kept on swiping at her.

Shit...

Jenna quickly reloaded and tried to run away but bumped into another zombie.

Fuck!

She aimed between its eyes and shot it. The bullet left a hole and it almost looked like a third eye, the zombie collapsed dead. The other one, however, kept coming at Jenna. She quickly shot it four times in the neck and head before it collapses, dead... again.

She ran as fast as she could until she came to the APC. She waved her arms.

"Let me in, please."

As Emerson turned to face the hold of the APC, he felt a right-quick smack to the back of his head. When he turned, he had a wild look in his eye, his neck and forehead veins were bulging from rage, his face was red, and he drew back a fist in preparation to strike whomever struck him first. He was looking right at JT.

"EMERSON! WAAAY too much. For Christ's sake, he just saved us a close-quarters combat with one of those damn things, and we're FUCKED when they get that close! You know that, regardless of how tough one is!"

JT drew closer and whispered in his ear.
^{"And you heard what that poor guy went through. Ease off of him, or you're looking at unfavorable consequences..."}
JT gave him a look of disgust and contempt, his disapproval obvious to everyone.

"Oh, wah! My gay lover died! Wah wah wah! We've all had fucked up lives. Just because he's young doesn't mean he gets it any better than we do. Infact, maybe he'll toughen the fuck up and grow a pai--"

Emerson, nearly reaching for his pistol at the sound outside, sighed in relief as Jenna called from outside. He opened the door to reveal the rather out of breath girl staring up at them.

"I'll be outside.", he said, in a possibly more gruff tone than usual, "And you, inside.", he noted, pointing at Jenna, "There's zombies out there y'know."

Felix paced back and forth in the APC for a moment, then followed Emerson outside. "What the hell is your problem?"

He paused, amazed by what was happening, but the other guy didn't reply so he continued. "You're being a jerk. It's obvious, and everyone knows it. None of us have to prove ourselves to you. Okay, so we didn't choose to be a group, but we are. And we're going to take care of each other, make sure we get through this. So some of us are more useful than others, so some people can kill zombies better or whatever. Big deal. We all have our strengths and we'll work together to survive.

So, you have a choice. Either you're one of the group, and the stupid snide comments stop, or you clear off and try to survive on your own, seeing as you obviously don't need us."

Jenna nodded.

"I know, I was almost mauled by two." She said, in a comedic tone.

She stepped inside the APC and went to her bag, it was moved slightly. She sat down and caught her breath. She tilted her head side-ways and closed her eyes.

Zzz...

Emerson, on the verge of hitting the tall standing teenager infront of him, took a deep breath.

"Not everything is black and white. I'm a dick because I need to be, and JT knows that. If he wanted me out of the group, he would have decided that a long time ago. Point being, I'm the best shot here. JT is smart enough to realise that."

He hauled himself up onto of the APC, which proved difficult due to the weapons he was carrying.

"You're new here. I don't expect you to understand. But just keep a little common sense about you; If I left, you'd be screwed. I got my reasons for being here, you got yours. You keep outta' my way and we won't have a problem."

Hearing the confrontation, Chris stepped outside after Felix and placed a hand on his shoulder. "'Salright mate," he said, "Just come back in and have a seat..."

They both went inside the APC and Felix followed Chris up to the driver's cab where there was room for one person to stand and another to sit in the chair. Chris leant against the wall and offered Felix the seat. He looked at him with a concerned, empathetic face and took a deep breath, "So you lost someone as well then? Your partner?"

Felix sat in the chair and looked at the ground. He nodded to answer Chris's question. He'd already been over the story once today, and he didn't want to repeat himself unless necessary. "But then again, all of us have lost someone, I'd guess."

Chris nodded and looked out through the window. It was still misty outside. "More than one," he murmured, "And I'm not even sure all of them are lost..."

He shook his head and sighed, "Listen, I don't know Emerson, but I think I know why he is the way he is. Just remember that the fact that you've been through what you have, and you haven't turned into me or him, that shows you're tougher than both of us. Remember that,"

Martin sat outside the APC, thinking of what he had seen at the SUV. After he had overcome the initial shock and horror he thought more deeply on the whole situation. Was it so wrong to end your life in the face of all this adversity? A family with two kids wasn't likely to survive anyway, and maybe they had been surrounded by zombies or in some other dire strait. Better to die than be a zombie?

"Ah bollocks, not like any of that shit matters. Doubt I'm going to get mauled running around with this group. We've got a heap of armaments in there anyway." he muttered to himself, standing up when he heard Emerson's juvenile rant at Felix.

He walked up into the APC and searched for JT, spotting him over by the weapons rack, and walked over to him.

"Eh, JT, I'll gladly accompany Felix out on watch - I wouldn't get much sleep in here anyway." he said, glancing at the walls of the APC and grimacing.

Chris shrugged and looked towards the ceiling. "I'll stay watch until he's gone to sleep," he said, referring to Emerson still on the ceiling, "The rest of you can do whatever..."

He went to one of the storage racks and pulled out a trio of thick blankets. Then he buttoned up his woollen longcoat to the top, pulled his scarf up over his face and jammed a hat on over his head so that all that was still visible of him was his eyes and the odd ruddy hair that stuck out from under the hat like a strand of copper wire. Chris then opened the hatch to the roof turret and climbed into it through the access ladder. Using one of the blankets to plug the gap between his legs and the hatch, thereby keeping the APC's occupants from feeling a draught, he wrapped another around his legs and draped the other across his shoulders. The result was that he would be able to sit still in the turret for as long as his watch lasted without getting too cold.

Ahead of him, sitting on the rook closer to the front of the APC was Emerson. Apart from a glance as he was getting himself prepared, Chris made a point of trying to ignore him completely.

Emerson tinkered with his hunting rifle. To the trained eye, it would seem he was cleaning it. Anyone else not obssessed with guns would simply realise that he was trying to remove a penny from the barrel. He was complete unfased by the argument beforehand, keeping up his usual, rather childish smirk.

"ONE!", he shouted, seemingly randomly, followed by the sound of a gunshot. A zombie in the far distance slowly slumped to the ground.

Chris sighed and shook his head. "You shouldn't waste your ammo," he warned, "And the corpses just attract more of them. If they're not coming towards you you ought to just leave them."

He spun the turret around once just to check there were none approaching, "Three months and you still never figured that out?"

"No, three months and I realise that being lookout is BORING. Did you lose your soul or something? I mean-- TWO!", Emerson shouted once more, followed by the sound of yet another gunshot, "--I mean, everyone has a way of making themselves feel a little better in this day and age. Mine is shooting zombies in the crotch. If you don't have a way to feel a little better about this place every now and again, you'll go crazy!"

Emerson slowly reloaded his rifle, before turning around to look at Chris.

"Are you crazy?"

Chris deliberately avoided the question, replying briskly "You don't have to be on watch. Any of your guys would've been happy to come up and do it."

"Yeah, well. This way they don't have to. Easier for everyone."

Emerson put his hunting rifle down on the APC's roof, and switched to his sniper.

"I just didn't want that kid out here. He thinks just because he shot one zombie that he can protect us all. He'd be rash, get himself killed. Maybe others too."

Chris let out a snort of hollow laughter, "I'd rather have someone on guard whose first instinct is to piss themselves and call for help, thereby waking us up to deal with the problem, than someone who spends the night wasting ammo sniping themselves a sweet smelling pile of zombie corpses and bringing over even more of the cunts..."

He folded his arms and fixed Emerson with a stern gaze through the narrow slit between his scarf and hat. "Now," he continued, his tone far more dangerous, "Remember what I said about putting me at risk. And with that in mind, get below and send Felix up to take your place."

There was a pause and Emerson looked rebellious.

"Do it now," Chris instructed, "Or I'll answer your question about exactly how crazy I am,"

Martin clambered out onto the APC's roof with some blankets in tow, breathing in deeply despite the pervading smell of zombie meat - the horrible, cramped quarters of the vehicle's interior made the smell of the air trivial in comparison. Noting Emerson and Chris speaking off by the APC's turret he moved to the opposite end of the roof, not wanting to intrude on whatever they were discussing.

Anyone else comes up here and we're going to start jostling for space he thought as he seated himself a few meters away from the two men.

He set the blankets down, moving them around until he had a comfortable arrangement to spend the night in. Pulling out his Deagle but leaving the safety on for now, he settled into his pile and glanced around for any possible zombie threats around this end of the APC.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Emerson reluctantly leave after a quick flurry of conversation from Chris.

That's strange - Emerson usually doesn't back down from anything. This guy must be either very persuasive or very dangerous... he pondered, then quietly called over to Chris:

"Hope you don't mind me up here - I'm not going to go zombie-crazy like Emerson does every night - but I just can't stay down there for long." he said, pointing down at the APC below him.

Chris shook his head and shrugged. "Not a problem mate," he replied, "I always liked the safety of having four bullet-proof walls and a roof over my head, but it's been a while since Sparrow's been that crowded..."

"Sparrow's a strange name for an APC - where'd that come from?" Martin asked, curious.

"Friend of mine died a few days ago," Chris murmured in a neutral tone, "We used to argue about what we'd call the APC; both felt like it needed a name. I wanted to call it Hayden, like Hayden Panettiere? And he wanted to call it the Mako after the thing in Mass Effect. After he died I named it after him since he wasn't going to be complaining..."

Attempting a weak half-smile, Chris rotated the turret lazily around, scanning the edge of the mist for any shuffling silhouettes.