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The nuclear-powered Destroyer _Destiny_moved across the top of the water just off the shore of Boston, Massachusetts. Its crew, which was now largely composed of civilian passengers, had just survived a disturbing situation. Only weeks before, the entire continental United States had become dominated by infected humans. These people had been infected with a virus that is ultimately fatal. Another aspect of the virus that is important to mention is that once the afflicted die, their bodies are reanimated and they begin looking for more humans to infect.

In short, they become hungry. Very hungry. There are no known cures to the virus and incredibly few people who are immune. Luckily, the virus is only transmittable through contact with an infected individual.

The situation that the _Destiny's_crew had just escaped was a dire one. A number of civilians were contacted in order to attempt an evacuation of the nearby area, and the ship was the only one left in port. As the civilians crowded onboard with their belongings and supplies for survival on the high seas, several of the officers from the ship, including its Captain, stayed behind to ensure the crews safety.

The ship left the port by the skin of its teeth, carrying several hundred passengers to the last place they could go where they knew they'd be safe. The replacement for the former Captain, Acting Captain Howan, now commands the ship, hoping to lead the crew to safety. Several of the _Destiny's_senior staff did not report for the evacuation in time. At the time that it left, the ship was short one Chief Engineer and would now need public relations officers to tend to its civilian crew.

Nikola Sokol, the replacement Chief Engineer, sat on a stool next to a computer console. He picked up a glass containing part of his water ration for the day and took a sip of it, sighing. Nikola was a Czech Computer and Metallurgical Engineer. His skills in engineering related tasks were what got him into the position. Captain Howan took a count of all of the civilians' skills in order to make sure he filled the Chief Engineer position with the most qualified person available. This was a solid plan, however; this also meant that a civilian would have one of the most important positions onboard a nuclear-powered naval ship. Though Sokol has been asked to follow the chain of command, the Captain could give him no formal punishment should he not follow orders.

One of the security officers, Lieutenant Bailey, was assigned to check on Sokol now and again. He stood now in the section Sokol sat. Nikola began to enter commands into the computer, activating diagnostic programs for the nuclear reactor and its systems.

"What are you doing?" Bailey spoke in a deep, serious tone. Nikola sighed and rolled his eyes. He looked over towards Bailey as if it were some great labour and spoke.

"If you must know, I'm checking the reactor's systems. I wouldn't want us to pull away from land only to have to go back to get things we don't have," Sokol spoke in a Czech accent and displayed what appeared to be honest patience with the lieutenant.

"I see," Bailey said and sat down on a stool near another console, "and how's it look?"

"It looks fine so far, haven't you got something better to--" suddenly, several windows on the computer screen began to blink red. Nikola gasped and froze for a moment.

"What is it, a glitch?"

"No, ...no, it isn't! I need you to hit the blue button just outside the reactor chamber, quickly!" Bailey looked behind him and spotted the button. He ran towards it quickly and hit it. The lights in the room suddenly went out. Dim emergency lights flickered on slowly throughout the ship.

"What just happened?" Bailey asked, looking incredulously at Nikola.

"The reactor has a leak. A serious one. That button was to shut it down and engage emergency systems," Nikola spoke in a practiced 'explaining something to someone' tone. He picked up the radio on the side of the console and hit the transmit button.

"Captain Howan, we have a problem," he spoke over the radio, hearing a click as he released the button.

"What is it, Mr. Sokol?!" Nikola got a bit worried at the Captain's tone, but continued nonetheless.

"The reactor has a leak. We can't risk running it until that leak is fixed. I suggest shutting down the engines immediately to conserve what little gasoline we have onboard to power the emergency systems," Nikola released the button again. It was another few moments before he got a reply.

"That's done. Mr. Sokol, I need you to do a more in-depth analysis of the leak. Please make haste," Nikola nodded, though mostly to himself, and replied.

"Alright, Sokol out," Nikola put the radio down and walked to the wall nearest the reactor chamber. He took a radiation suit out of the nearby closet.

"You're going in there?" Nikola sighed and looked at Bailey the same way he had before.

"It's hardly going to be a dangerous task. You obviously understand very little about radiation," Bailey shook his head arrogantly and stopped talking. Nikola slipped the radiation suit on and grabbed magnification instruments that he would use to inspect it. He hit a button, opening the door to the chamber, and looked at the casing for the reactor. He walked towards it and pulled one of his instruments, reading trace amounts of radiation at a particular point on the casing. He pulled out one of the magnifying devices and looked closely for a moment. He moved his arm up to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He immediately pulled it back when he realized that he was still wearing the suit.

Nikola pulled away from the reactor casing and left the room, removing the radiation suit. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"Well? Is it bad?" Nikola was looking upset at Bailey now.

"Bad? Yes of course it's bad! It was bad to begin with! We're going to need far more pure lead than we currently have to repair the damage to this reactor. Now I have no idea how this damage came to be, but whoever let this happen was an inept--," Nikola stopped suddenly as he was pinned up against the wall by Bailey. He gasped. Luckily his arm was not blocking his airway.

"The man who you replaced, do you even know his name?! He was a great man!" Bailey looked more upset than Nikola now, who looked genuinely rather afraid. Nikola returned to his serious composure.

"Apparently not great enough, if this happened. I'm sorry," Bailey pushed on Nikola's chest for a moment and then released him. Nikola sighed. He hadn't had a physical confrontation like that since his university years. He walked away with his back to Bailey. He picked up the radio at his console and hit transmit. He waited a moment, thinking of the words to use.

"Captain, we have a bigger problem than I thought. The leak in the reactor is large. Too large to fix with what we have," Nikola paused and then released the transmit button.

"God Damnit! We need to find more then, can we use the lead in our cannon's ammunition?" Nikola shook his head.

"Sorry, the grade isn't high enough if we want to do it right, which I highly suggest we do."

"Of course. So we have to go inland?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I also don't know of any specific locations that we can obtain lead of sufficient quality."

"...I'll hold a meeting in the briefing room in one hour. I'd like you there. Can you do that, Mr. Sokol?"

"Yes Captain, I'll be there. Sokol out," Nikola clicked the radio off and rubbed his temples with his right hand.

This is going to be hell in winter. With no reactor, this ship will run out of gasoline in twenty-four hours. Maybe a few hours after that... it'll be too cold to live in here.

Nikola looked over at Bailey, he looked equally as troubled. Nikola poked at the touch screen on the computer console. He started to run more diagnostic programs. He hoped luck would compensate him with no other problems, given the one very major one. Bailey was surprised at how he could just go to work again after all that.

"What are we going to do... I mean you say you don't know where we can get the lead we need..."

"That's right," Nikola looked away from his console and to Bailey.

"Well? What can we hope to accomplish, then?" Nikola shook his head and Bailey sighed.

"I guess we have to try. There are a couple hundred people counting on this. Or they will be, once they know anyways," Nikola frowned. His hand shook slightly as he took another sip of his water ration. The two men could hear yelling down the halls. People were wondering what was going on and the military personnel were struggling to keep everyone calm. Nikola sighed.

About an hour later, the bustle on the ship had calmed down, and most of the civilians were resting in their quarters. The emergency lights had been turned up slightly so that it was a lot easier to see on the ship and people would avoid accidents. Nikola sat next to Bailey in the meeting room. The Captain sat at the end of the table.

"As most of you know, Mr. Sokol has informed me that our reactor is currently unusable due to a leak in the casing. We do not have the necessary resources to fix it onboard, so we need options," the Captain spoke with confidence despite the situation the crew was in. Nikola admired that.

"Did we consider the ammo we've got? That might be good enough," an ensign spoke out first. Before the Captain could retort, Nikola decided to speak for himself.

"The quality isn't nearly good enough to do the job right. That would be a last-ditch effort at best," the ensign calmed down a bit. He was done talking. A major in the Air Force spoke next.

"Captain, I think the obvious answer is to go ashore. I'm sure it's what we're all thinking," everyone at the table nodded, including the ensign. The Captain spoke next.

"Yes, of course. The problem is that we don't know of any specific location where we can get lead of the grade we require," the mood at the table suddenly went down considerably. Though many of the people present were aware of that circumstance, it was depressing to hear.

"I've heard of a plant somewhere in the industrial section of the city... the place was called Lambergh... or something. I saw it on the news, they were stockpiling lead because _they_had a problem, too," an Air Force private spoke up. Everyone was surprised to hear him, since he looked like a quiet fellow. The Captain motioned at an officer who rushed off for a computer console.

"Now, you're sure?"

"Yes, Captain. I definitely remember hearing about it."

"Well, everyone; this is the only lead we've got. We're going to follow it. Assuming that this proves somewhat viable, I'll be assembling a team. Any volunteers should report to the aft cargo bay immediately," the Captain spoke sternly and his men responded. Some of them spoke to one another. Things like 'No way in hell I'm going' and 'I need to prove myself to everyone,' Nikola would have no part of that kind of thing. The crew needed him on that mission. He had to do it for the greater good. Once the room cleared out, the last two people were the Captain and Nikola. Nikola straightened the military jacket he commonly wore and brushed his long, dark hair out of his eyes. He spoke to the Captain.

"Captain, you know that area of the city... it's miles in. We don't have a lot of time," Nikola spoke in a worried tone, and the Captain knew it was warranted.

"I know. You don't have to go if you don't want to, Sokol. They can--," the Captain was cut-off.

"No. I've got to go. I'm the only one who really knows what we need. If I don't go, there's a chance they'll come back with the wrong stuff, and we can't risk that," the Captain nodded and smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say that," just then, the officer that the Captain had researching was back. He saluted and the Captain waved him to ease.

"Sir. The Private was correct; sir, but we have very little specifics. We only know that the place exists and that it should have what we need, that's all our intelligence has on it," the Captain nodded somewhat solemnly. He spoke.

"Alright, Sergeant. Get the team together. I'll be in the cargo bay in a moment. We have to leave as soon as possible," the sergeant nodded and left the room, heading for the cargo bay.

"I'll take my leave of you, Mr. Sokol. You should get whatever supplies you'll need and meet us down there," Nikola nodded, he looked the Captain in the eye.

"You won't be going, will you?" the Captain sighed and shook his head.

"Those luxuries are reserved for others, I'm afraid. Besides, there's not much I could contribute that others couldn't," Nikola nodded, but not in a way to be rude and agree with him. The Captain left the room, and Nikola was alone. He took the last sip of his water ration and put the cup in one of his large jacket pockets. He sighed to himself and pulled himself out of the chair, heading down to Engineering. He trekked down the hallways, making little eye contact with the military personnel that were hurrying to prepare for the operation. They were too busy to even take notice of him.

Once Nikola made it down to Engineering, he saw the Engineer who was his highest ranking assistant. He spoke to her.

"Lieutenant Hoffman, Engineering is yours until I get back. Assuming I do. Your codes already work for all of the computer commands, so you'll be fine," Hoffman nodded and shook Nikola's hand. Nikola nodded back and let go of her surprisingly soft hand. He hurried to collect his field equipment. Once he was done, he stood in the doorway and took one last look at Engineering before hurrying down the hallway to the rear cargo bay. Once he arrived, the sight was incredible.

What seemed like half of the ship's crew was stirring around, preparing one of the ship's smaller boats to go ashore. The team looked like it was composed of about ten people of varying ranks, not including Nikola himself. He sized each of them up, trying to guess at this distance some vague portion of their personality. He laughed at himself and then headed downward towards them.

"Mr. Sokol? I'm Major Lars, the Captain has put me in command of the op," the major put out his hand for Nikola to shake and he shook it. Nikola looked him over again and spoke.

"Nice to meet you, but I assume you mean you're in charge of the military side of things? I'm civilian," the major smiled coyly at Nikola.

"I like you already! Alright, the ship's got a hell of an armory, any particular rifle you're into?" Nikola thought for a moment and remembered the times he had had in Eastern and Central Europe. He looked down at the selection and picked out a G36K, looking it over. He rubbed the sides and held it, stock braced against his shoulder, aiming at nothing. The major nodded.

"G36 it is, then. Nice choice, thought most of the unit is sticking with the M4. S'pose that means more ammo for you, though," the major handed Nikola three clips and he put them in his pockets, putting the gun on a strap over his left shoulder.

"Thanks. Used this back in the home country. We had our issues, you know?" the major nodded at Nikola.

"Heard of that kind of stuff, pretty sick, yeah?"

"Quite," Nikola frowned and held the gun's strap more tightly.

"Sorry, man. Anyways, the mission's going to go fine. This place shouldn't be that hard to find, right?"

"Right, let's go," Nikola spoke as the doors in the cargo bay opened to show sea water. Nikola could see the shore about a mile and a half away. The snow was falling outside and Nikola shivered as the cold entered the bay. He dropped the gun momentarily to put on some more weather appropriate clothes and put it back over his shoulder along with his supplies, still shivering. The major looked at him.

"It's not just the cold that makes you shiver, eh?" and he was right. There was more than one thing making the team shiver. The cold, for one. The threat of general impending death, the thought of having their bodies torn apart by what were essentially zombies, the thought of being frozen alive, and the thought of anything else that could possibly go wrong.

"Good times ahead," Nikola said quietly to himself. The major apparently didn't hear him, because he looked away and stepped onto the boat. Nikola followed after and the rest of the team piled on. With the team and all of their supplies, the boat was essentially full. Nikola shifted around, trying to get more comfortable for the ride.

"You have a go, Major. Godspeed," the major saluted the Captain and turned back around, starting the engine and pulled the boat out of the _Destiny._Once they were clear, the engine got louder and the boat sped towards land, heading for a dock that Nikola could barely see with the snow flying in his face. One of the soldiers handed him something. He couldn't really see it until he squinted.

"Thanks!" he yelled over the roar of the engine and the wind, but he didn't think the man heard him. Nikola slipped the goggles over his eyes and the view became clearer. He gave the soldier a thumbs up instead and smiled. The smile was lost to him shortly after, though. He looked out on the landscape as they got closer. It was deserted. Empty homes, empty cars... everything was empty. There was hardly any movement. Nikola frowned and waited as the major parked the boat next to a dock. He helped to tie it off. Nikola yelled over the wind, which had gotten worse over time.

"Major, we should head that way first," Nikola pointed West-South-West. The major nodded. He made some hand signals that Nikola wasn't familiar with and the team stood up with their supplies. All but three left the boat.

"Those three are staying to wait for us. We can't risk the place being compromised," the Major yelled over the wind, which was now calming down slowly. Nikola nodded at him and pulled his hood over his head, tying it tightly. The group of eight trudged through the snow and made it onto the street. It forked three ways, none of which were a direct route to where they wanted to go. Lars looked over to Nikola, who pulled out his GPS. It read that going straight was the quickest route. He pointed that way and Lars nodded. Nikola held up his finger quickly and spoke through the cloth that was over his mouth.

"Just to update you, we have nineteen hours. If we can't get back by then, we need to take gasoline or something!" the major nodded at Nikola, looking solemn, and walked along the route Nikola had designated. Nikola followed him, keeping pace. He looked around as he walked and spotted homes where the windows had been broken into and the cars just sat there, lifeless. The snow started to fall more slowly as the group made their way down the street, and the wind stopped completely. Major Lars pulled off his hood and the rest followed suit. He spoke to the group.

"Alright everyone, like Sokol just said, if we can't get this lead, we need to check for places we can get gas on the way back. The _Destiny_won't survive without one or the other," the group nodded, including Nikola despite the fact that he had just told the Major that himself.

"Major, what's going to happen to the _Destiny_if we can't find either?" an Army private asked. The Major looked down and then back up.

"Within a couple of hours, it'll be too cold on the _Destiny_for anyone to live," the private nodded. The group continued to walk and then reached the end of the street. They all looked at Nikola who pointed straight again.

"From what I can tell, we won't be able to head directly for this place at any point. We have to go indirectly," Nikola said while looking at his GPS.

"Won't that take longer?" the same private asked Nikola, looking towards him as the group started to walk back along the road.

"Yeah, quite a bit longer. We don't have much choice, though," Nikola said with a serious look on his face. One of the Air Force lieutenants suddenly froze up. He stood there for a moment and one by one the rest of the group stopped as they realized he was not moving.

"What is it, lieutenant?" the Major asked, looking worried. Nikola and the rest thought for a moment and realized what the lieutenant had likely just realized himself.

"Where are all of the infected?" the lieutenant asked what everyone was thinking. Suddenly, him and the rest of the military personnel pulled out their weapons and started to point them around, scanning for any targets.

"I have no idea," Major Lars spoke as the group stopped searching. Nikola thought to himself why the infected weren't anywhere around.

"Motor control naturally takes more energy in the cold. It's obviously below freezing, so they likely have a hard time moving," the group calmed down a bit. They had grown tense from the mention of the infected, and so had Nikola himself, though his muscles did not relax at all.

"Nice one, Mr. Sokol. Good thing we brought you along," the Major spoke with a laugh. The rest of the group smiled and continued down the path. Unfortunately for them, night was beginning to fall. They couldn't see the sun, but they could tell that within a couple of hours it would be below the horizon. All of them knew that they'd have to rest during the night because most of them were exhausted from the troubles of the day before in escaping onto Destiny.

After they had traveled a mile or two down indirect routes provided by the road system, the sky was getting dark. Nikola checked his watch. It read 21:00. He sighed.

Damnit, I'm so tired. Setting up after the evac was more tiring than I thought.

"Major, sir, it's 9 o'clock. We should start making camp," one of the lieutenants spoke up before Nikola could. He was glad because he didn't want to sound weak to the soldiers. The Major looked at his own watch.

"Okay, start making camp. Sokol, you look for dry wood. Shouldn't be hard considering all the houses around. Also, see if you can find us something other than these damn rations," the Major nodded at Nikola. He nodded back and headed for the nearest house, pulling his G36K off of his back and into ready position. Nikola stepped through the heavy snow to the inside of the house, which felt surprisingly warm. The fireplace was still burning, but there was little wood left. He looked at the door to his left and inspected the wood, figuring it'd do fine as firewood for now. He kicked hard at the door until it was in pieces and pulled them into a pile together.

"Found some!" Nikola yelled out the door. Suddenly, he thought he heard something behind him, coming from the room he had just destroyed the door to. They were footsteps. He turned around fast, aiming his sidearm at the figure. It was a tall infected woman whose entire body essentially appeared to be dead, despite the fact that she was standing up. Her face had wrinkles all over it, and her mouth moved to make a terrifying sound, like a dying scream... only worse.

Nikola levelled his handgun with her face and fired, looking away. Her body toppled over, finally destroying the remaining signs of life in her. Nikola put the handgun back in its holster and lifted up the pile of wood. He carried it towards what was becoming their camp for the night. The Major looked at him with a bit of worry.

"What was that shooting about?"

"Well, one of those damn zombies came at me," Nikola said. The Major looked at him strangely.

"Zombies, huh? I kinda viewed them as people to some extent," Nikola looked at him seriously and shook his head as he walked past him.

"Trust me, Major Lars, that's a mistake," Nikola set the pile on top of the rest of the fire wood. The Major was still standing where Nikola had left him. He was thinking about what he said. Nikola looked back.

What I said is certainly true. It's easier to accept that these people are no longer people, because they have most definitely lost their humanity.

The Major walked towards Nikola with the obvious intent to speak to him.

"Mr. Sokol, you're probably right. Unfortunately, if people believe their loved ones are all zombies, what are they here for?" he asked and Nikola nodded.

"You have a good point, Major. Mine is just the truth. These... infected individuals are obviously not who they used to be," the Major looked down and nodded solemnly.

"We don't know very much right now, Sokol. Keep that in mind," Nikola looked at the Major. The two practically had a staring contest until the Major walked towards one of the lieutenants. Luckily, the rest of the group had not heard their conversation. Nikola sighed to himself. He looked down at the black boots he was wearing and at the bare white snow. He suddenly pictured it in his mind as being red with blood.

Christ. If we can't find this lead that we need... we can't survive on land; definitely not on the coast.

Nikola kicked the snow and moved towards the fire that had now been started, sitting nearby to it and feeling its subtle warmth. He saw the Army private from earlier on the other side of the fire. He was looking at him.

"How many people do you think are out there, deeper into the country, trying to survive just like this?" the private asked Nikola. The other soldiers were too busy setting up camp to notice them talking. Nikola shrugged.

"I'm sure a lot of people are out there. It would be surprising to the individual how hard someone will try to keep themselves alive," Nikola smiled a little and remembered his cousin, a former University student who might just be alive somewhere in the country.

"You're probably right," the private nodded and looked off in another direction.

"What's your name, private?" Nikola looked curiously at him.

"I'm Young. Dylan Young," Nikola nodded and pulled out his GPS again. The group was not even halfway to where they thought the lead might be. Nikola sighed.

We've still got almost all of tomorrow.

The Major came and sat next to the fire with Nikola and Dylan. He even looked tired.

"We should all get to bed. If we get some good sleep, we'll be able to cover twice as much ground," the Major said, looking between Nikola and Private Young. The Private stood up and saluted the Major, who nodded him at ease.

"Sokol, you seem like the kind of guy who's not used to taking orders, but this is a suggestion. Get some sleep or you'll be slowing us down," the Major added Nikola cocked his head and nodded slowly. The Major stood up as he nodded back and headed towards his tent and Nikola stood up himself. He stood and thought for a moment.

Does he think that I'm just going to be a nuisance on this mission?...

Nikola got inside of his tent, which one of the soldiers had put up for him, and he laid down on a simple blanket and a small pillow. He wasn't particularly bothered by the poor accommodations. He wasn't afraid to endure a bit for the greater good.

I hope that the rest of these people have the same idea in mind.

Nikola planned the next day through in his mind. He thought of several things that could go wrong. Zombies might attack or human raiders might come after them. Finally, he fell asleep. As he slept, people onboard the _Destiny_slept as well. The ship's heating system and electricity slowly consumed the dangerously low supply of gasoline in the tanks. Captain Howan stood on the near empty bridge looking out to the shore, wishing the team would succeed; praying to the gods that he believed in that they would come back safe and with the means to save everyone else's lives.

Nikola woke up the next morning at 05:00. He blinked a couple of times and opened up his tent, seeing that only a couple of the soldiers were up. They would have liked to sleep more than seven hours, but they needed to get moving along their trail or they'd never make it. After a moment, Nikola realized that the other soldiers weren't sleeping. They were checking to see if any of the cars around had gasoline by starting them. So far it seemed to be failing. Nikola stood up outside his tent and started to re-pack it.

"Morning, Nikola," the private said to Nikola when he returned from testing the cars with the others.

"Good morning," Nikola said back, though he meant it lightly. How could it be a good morning, after all, when hundreds of people were at risk on the ship and only Nikola and these soldiers could save them? Nikola looked up at the private.

"Any luck with the cars?" though he knew the answer.

"No. Not really. We were lucky if any of them even turned over, it's just like a giant graveyard of manmade shit around here, now," Nikola was surprised at how the private swore. He hadn't seemed like the type, but everyone changes in times like these. Nikola stood up straight and looked around, watching the other soldiers returning from checking the cars. They all looked equally disappointed.

"Alright, people. We've got a little under ten hours to find the lead we're looking for. At the rate we're going with the gasoline... If we can't find the lead, _Destiny_is going to become a graveyard," the Major said. He sighed deeply.

"Let's get moving," the Major ordered, and the soldiers nodded at him. Nikola nodded as well and picked up his pack of instruments and other supplies. The soldiers did the same and began to walk along the path that Nikola had given them the day before. Snowy wind blew their hair to the right as they walked along what used to be a suburban sidewalk. Nikola moved his hair out of his face and kept moving.

These people probably don't think I'm worth much, but I'll show them that I have as much resolve as they've got.

Nikola walked more quickly, up to the front of the line of soldiers. He stood behind the Major, who was at the very front of the line. Nikola checked his GPS to make sure they were still on the right path. He began to study the path more closely to check for anywhere they could possibly take off some time. He apparently became engrossed in it for longer than he realized, because the Major suddenly stopped and he practically ran into him. The Major gave him a sour look and spoke.

"This could be a problem," he said. Nikola looked puzzled for a moment, but then he looked up. He saw a pack of what looked like headlights heading their way. The Major waved at one of the houses nearby and the soldiers headed for it along with Nikola, who trailed behind them. He closed the door after he got in and stepped into what was the living room, where all the soldiers had gone. There was a large window. The Major moved the blinds close to each other until there were only a few inches left to see out of. He looked out of it and Nikola came up next to him to look as well.

"What are they doing here?" the Major asked no one in particular. The vehicles drove by and he recognized them as military Jeeps and Humvees. He looked worried. Nikola looked at him strangely.

"Isn't that good? More military?" Nikola waited for an answer, but it was a few moments until the Major replied.

"Negative. They're probably remnant forces looking to scavenge supplies. We should call Destiny," the Major gestured at one of the lieutenants and he took his pack off and began to take something out. It was a long-distance radio-transmitter. At this point, there were beyond the range of a hand-held radio. He unfolded the tripod and hit a button on it, lighting it up. The Major hit his hand-held immediately.

"_Destiny,_be advised, there are military vehicles headed in your direction. Probably rogue forces looking for supplies. I recommend you move further out until we return, over?" the radio crackled a bit; Nikola figured the transmitter had seen better days.

"Roger that, Major, we'll move out another mile. Destiny out," the familiar voice of the Captain came over everyone's radio. The Major nodded. He spoke to the group.

"Watch out for people like that. They look military, but nine times out of ten they'll be mercenary jackasses who just wanna keep themselves alive," the soldiers nodded. Nikola just looked at the Major, then stood up and looked away. The Major nodded and the group headed back out into the snowy Massachusetts morning. The lieutenant with the transmitter packed it up and followed behind Nikola, who pulled out his GPS again. When the group reached the next intersection, they looked at him. He pointed down to the left. The group turned and a couple of them gasped.

Down the left turn was an array of broken houses and burning remains of cars. It looked like the character from Grand Theft Auto IV had just walked in and destroyed the whole place, leaving nothing behind but charred husks. Private Young gulped and the group continued, despite the obvious creepiness of the passageway. As they walked along, they could see charred bodies. Dylan looked obviously disgusted.

"This wasn't those zombies. Who the hell did this?" the private asked and the Major looked down.

"It was probably people like those we just saw. They go from place to place taking supplies, and those who fight back end up like this," the Major responded and the Private nodded and continued to walk solemnly. Nikola patted him on the back. Dylan looked up and faked a smile.

"Thanks," he whispered to Nikola, who walked back up towards the front of the line. Once they reached the end of the block, Nikola pointed straight, where there was more destruction. Nikola noted that, in fact, there was this kind of destruction for as far as he could see straight ahead.

"You think they'll come back?" one of the lieutenants spoke up over the wind and the sound of footsteps in the snow. The Major looked back.

"Probably, but hopefully not where and when we're going to be around," the lieutenant nodded and looked down. It was the same lieutenant who had set up the communications equipment. Nikola watched him lug around the equipment with a practiced ease that came with military training. Nikola knew a lot about how the military trained its soldiers, but how they trained them to take orders so easily was beyond him.

Maybe the military looks for less free spirited people. People who are more apt to need some guidance and acceptance.

Nikola nodded to himself. That must be it, since Nikola was a person who liked to choose his own way, it was more difficult for him to empathize with the people who wanted someone else to tell them the best way to do something, even if they didn't believe it was. Nikola shook his head to get him out of the trance, and he realized the group was already at the next block, waiting for his instruction. He looked down at his GPS and pointed to his right and the group headed out again.

A couple of hours passed and the communications lieutenant looks down at his watch with a worried look. He speaks up to the Major.

"Sir, we're reaching the point of no return here. In another hour, we won't be able to make it back at the same pace we're taking now..."

"And I don't know if we can keep up this pace," the Private chimes in and all of the soldiers nod as the Major looks back. They all stop walking for a moment. The Major thought for a minute and sighed clearly.

"You guys are right. We should head back now if we can't keep up this pace. Everyone who thinks we should start heading back now, step out of line," the Major meant it seriously. His offer was not a threat. No one moved.

"I'm serious, if anyone can't make it, there's no point in going further," it took a few minutes, but people began to step out of line. First the Private stepped out, and then the comm. lieutenant. Nikola kept in line with the Major and looked back after another minute. He saw that everyone else had stepped out. The Major looked at him and sighed again, as if he was thinking "Jesus Christ, the civilian is the only one left?" The soldiers were visibly disappointed in themselves, but they couldn't help it. They were simply too tired. The Major nodded after a moment.

"You guys head back, I'll give you my GPS," he handed his GPS device to the lieutenant, nodded at him.

"God be with you."

"And you sir!" at once, all of them saluted the Major. He saluted them and laid them at ease. Nikola looked at the Major.

"We should go, we don't have any time to waste," Nikola said and the Major nodded. He had one last thing to say.

"Get _any_gasoline you can find and wait at the landing site for us. If we aren't there before the time runs out... tell the Captain we need to get everyone on land, whether we like it or not," the Major knew that those hundreds of people couldn't survive long term on the mainland, but he said what had to be done. The soldiers nodded and began walking in the opposite direction, backtracking on the footsteps they had just taken. The Major waited another moment and looked towards Nikola.

"Sokol, you better follow through with this, all of these people are depending on us."

"I know that, Major. Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"Right, well, let's go," the Major said as he turned back around. Nikola walked to his right and looked down at his GPS. It read that they were less than a mile from where they should be. Nikola smiled to himself and put the GPS away for the moment. He had memorized the rest of the route. The city was getting denser as they moved towards the target. Nikola spotted factories of all sorts around and it reminded him of the industrial district in Prague.

"So, Mr. Sokol, you got family?" the Major asked and Nikola looked at him, puzzled a bit.

"Only back in the homeland. I haven't got any kids, if that's what you mean," he answered and the Major nodded. He rummaged in one of his jacket pockets for a moment and pulled out a picture. It was a bit worn and now a bit wet, but Nikola could easily make out two children.

"My little girls. They should be evacuated up to Northern Canada by now along with my wife," he said Nikola smiled and nodded. He wondered if that was really the case.

"I had a girl that I cared a lot for, but we parted ways a while before this happened," Nikola added and the Major frowned a bit and put the picture back in his pocket.

"What happened?" he looked honestly interested in Nikola's life, which surprised him thoroughly.

"Well it was pretty stupid, actually. We were set to get married, but... her family is a religious one. I'm an atheist myself, like many people back in my country, and that didn't go well with them," the Major looked genuinely sorry for Nikola.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's sad how often things like that happen. People just can't accept other people's religious beliefs sometimes," Nikola nodded and raised an eyebrow, though he had turned away so the Major couldn't see him as well. Nikola looked up and saw the factories becoming even denser. There were practically ten per block at this point and Nikola was getting worried that they'd have trouble finding the one they needed even if it was right in front of them. He pulled out his GPS again.

"Looks like we're almost right on top of it," the Major nodded and started to read the names of the factories as they passed them by.

"Lambergh, right?" the Major said, still looking them over.

"That's what he said," Nikola replied quickly, still looking at the GPS. Suddenly, the two of them heard something at the same time. It was the sound of some kind of vehicle coming around the next pass. The two ran backwards immediately, heading around the next block. They ran a ways until they reached the end. The vehicle slowed as it reached the end of the block and turned their way. They froze.

"Looked, if they pull their guns out, don't do anything stupid," the Major said, gesturing at the G36K on Nikola's back. He nodded. Another vehicle came around from the adjacent side. They both came to a stop a few metres from the Major and Nikola.

"What are you two doing out here?" a man stepped out of the passenger side of one of the vehicles. More men and a couple of women started to come out as well. The vehicles were Ford Exporers. The Major spoke up to them.

"We're just here to scav-" he was cut off by the man speaking again.

"Give us everything you've got," the man said and Nikola tensed up and started to reach back for his weapon. The Major shook his head.

"All we've got is food. I promise, if this is your place, we'll just leave," the Major pleaded and the man laughed at him. The Major cocked his head as the man took off his sunglasses. Nikola noticed that he had the sort of biker look about him. A short Mohawk, very dark clothes, not military-like.

"I don't think you understand. This isn't our place, we just want your shit," the man nodded and all of the other people pointed their handguns at Nikola and the Major and started to edge closer. One of them ran right up to them.

"You best listen to him," he spoke in a Brooklyn accent.

"We can't..." the man suddenly hit the Major with the top of his pistol, knocking him out. Everyone looked to Nikola, who could feel himself shaking. He put his hands in the air.

"I'll give you my stuff, just don't..." another man, who Nikola had not noticed, hit him in the head as well, knocking him out. The men took their supplies as quickly as possible and laughed as they kicked the men while they were down. After that, the SUV group made off quickly. Once the group was done scavenging the two crewmembers of Destiny, the only thing left on either of them was the Major's picture of his two daughters and Nikola's GPS dangling from his hand. Nikola's eyes opened about half an hour later. He blinked in and out of consciousness until finally he was able to sit up. He felt a sharp pain in his side and a headache, but he was alright. He saw the Major lying down next to him, still unconscious. Nikola looked down. He now saw that there was little hope in retrieving the lead they needed. He sighed deeply and rested his chin on one of his fists. As he looked up, something on the factory above him caught his eyes. He blinked to make sure he had seen correctly.

A large sign on the front of the factory read "Lambergh Industries" in bold red letters. Nikola opened his mouth wide in amazement and laughed. He looked down at his GPS and they were a ways off from the factory's position. Nikola looked at his watch on his wrist and his face turned from one of glee to one of anguish. According to his watch, there were only two and a half more hours until the Destiny would run out of gasoline to power its electricity and heating. In a bit of a panic, he rushed over to the Major, who he shook to wake up. The Major blinked a couple times and became fully conscious.

"MAJOR! This is the place, but we've only got two and a half hours!" the Major looked disbelievingly at Nikola who pointed up at the sign. The Major looked up and had the same reaction as Nikola did initially.

"Well let's give it our damndest! Find that lead and we'll get out of here!" the Major orded and Nikola nodded and rushed in the front door and blew through some manifests on the front desk to try and find where it was stored. He found the location, on the third floor of the building. Nikola moved so fast that the Major couldn't even keep up with him. He reached the third floor and tore through more files and finally found the case. It was smaller than he expected, but it definitely weighed the right amount. He took a strap off of his combat vest and tied it to parts of the case, strapping it across his back.

"Let's go!" he called down to the Major, who looked exhausted. Nikola looked at him and stopped.

"We... won't be able to make it, we'll be..." the Major shook his head as he panted. Nikola felt powerless. He had just what the ship needed, but it was miles away. Too many miles for them to make in the amount of time that they had. Nikola had an idea suddenly. He brought the Major down back to the first floor and searched for a door to the service entrance. He found it after a minute with the light of the sky slowly darkening and held his breath, opening the door. He smiled as he saw just what he was looking for, the company truck. Hopefully it would still have gas in it... even a little... hopefully...

The Major hurried and got in the passenger side of the truck, waiting for Nikola to get in the driver's seat. The Major looked at his watch and spoke.

"This leaves us with two hours. If this thing can't run, what do you say we find the nearest bar and drink ourselves to death," the Major commented and Nikola tilted his head at the Major and raised an eyebrow. He couldn't tell whether or not he was kidding. The Major smiled and Nikola turned the keys to the truck, which were in the ignition. As the electric turned on, the gasoline available read as very low, but they could drive. Nikola smiled and turned the key, bringing the truck to life. He turned on the headlights and backed it out. He made a turn for the main road and sent them heading back for the Destiny, with little time to spare.

Nikola drove down the roads they had just passed by foot. He figured the soldiers would be back by the time they'd arrive if they had hurried a bit. Nikola stepped harder on the gas and blew down the set of destroyed houses they had passed earlier that day. He came off the gas a little to try and save what little gasoline was in the tank. As he drove, he could only hope that the men from earlier wouldn't be in their path.

Minutes passed, and more still. Nikola passed the halfway point and saw the remnants of their camp. As he began to pass the final stretch, what he feared the worst happened. The fuel gauge hit "E" and the truck slowly came to a halt.

At least we got some rest... maybe we can make it, still!

Nikola didn't bother to look down at his watch as he woke the Major and they started jogging in the direction of the Destiny. After a while of running, Nikola was panting and the Major panting harder. He peeked down at his watch and saw that they didn't have the time to be going at this pace. He began to run faster and faster, into a sprint. He knew it was more than his body would be able to take, but he continued anyways, leaving the Major behind. Suddenly, Nikola couldn't see anything, with the wind blowing in his face and the sound of it deafening him. He ran and ran until everything went dark. He lost consciousness. The Major caught up with him eventually and he was taken onto the ship by the soldiers who stayed at the landing site. Nikola had made it within twenty metres of the site, and the soldiers had taken him the rest of the way. They rushed the unconscious Nikola and his precious lead back to the ship, leaving two of the soldiers to wait for the Major. Nikola was rushed to the infirmary and the lead was rushed to Engineering, where two of the engineers worked to repair the reactor with only half an hour to spare. They completed the task with time to spare and the Destiny's power was back to nominal levels.

Nikola woke up in the infirmary eight hours later. A doctor stood over him. As he came to, every part of him hurt. His side and head still ached and now it felt like his heart and lungs were going to explode and that he was about the throw up. The doctor smiled at him though. Nikola spoke the words that any patient would.

"Am I going to be okay? Did I get back in time?" Nikola asked. The doctor nodded and put something into his IV drip. The pain in his body lessened and he relaxed a little.

"You made it back with plenty of time for the engineers to do their work. The Destiny is back on track, and the Major made it back okay, too. You were right to rush, though, as I understand. The Major arrived after our time would have been up," the doctor responded. Nikola smiled to himself and almost laughed, but his lungs hurt like hell when he did.

"You'll be fine in a day or two, you can get back to duty in twelve hours if you like, though," the doctor added and Nikola nodded.

"I thought you might. Everyone is real appreciative for what you did. We all owe you and the Major a lot," Nikola drifted off back to sleep before the doctor finished his sentence, though, and it was rest he well deserved.