Chapter 5
3:02 a.m.
Clint's surprised to find himself alone in bed this late at night, Nat's absence leaving him feeling cold and hollow.
He pulls himself out from underneath the covers, and drags himself out of the bedroom to try and find his wife.
He has to stop for a moment at the top landing of the stairwell. Everything is so silent. Most memories he has of the home are of screaming and fighting and pain and tears.
Natasha has put her stamp on every inch of the home, and Clint absolutely loves it. Where before there were cigarette smoke stained walls and old, scuffed floors, now there's frames holding many, many happy memories with his wife and his friends.
It all almost makes him forget the horrors that he lived through as a boy.
He finds Natasha sitting on the front porch swing, nursing a cup of coffee.
"Your gonna catch your death out here, darling, and if the cold doesn't kill you, the Devil's nectar in your hands will."
She gives him a small smile from behind the mug, before sliding over just enough that he can take a seat beside her, and wrap his arms around her.
"At least that's what you always tell me."
Their heartbeats seem to instantaneously sync, causing a warm smile to spread across Clint's face. He doesn't know what in the world he did to deserve someone so special, but he does know that he is forever going to make her the happiest woman on the planet.
"Well I don't have the aptitude for stress that you do. Half of what you pour ends up on the floor anyway."
He just pulls her closer and kisses the top of her head, knowing that she is unarguably correct in her assessments.
They stay like that for a while. Just soaking in each other's company, enjoying the companionable silence between them.
"I'm pregnant."
She was whispering, but Clint is pretty damn sure that he heard her right.
"Say that again, please."
She raises from the swing, takes a few deep breaths, and then turns to face him, sporting a watery smile.
"I'm pregnant."
He's got her off the floor, spinning in his arms in seconds.
As Clint starts to regain consciousness, it's as if he's being held under water, fighting and fighting to reach the surface.
The first thing he notices is that he's moving. Though he's lying on his back, he can tell that it's in some form of vehicle, and there are at least twenty other people in the thing with him.
As brakes screech to a halt, everyone around him starts to file out, and he eventually finds enough strength to lift himself up and follow the rest.
This scene is almost identical to the one at the highschool. People are everywhere; confused, angry, terrified.
He recognizes the truck depot immediately. He's about a mile and a half out of Waverly's jurisdiction, and that's when everything registers.
Nat is still back there. They think she's infected.
A chill rattles his entire body remembering how Rhodes hadn't hesitated to place a bullet between Scott's eyes once he found out he had been exposed.
"Sheriff?"
He turns to find Lance Hunter standing right behind him, looking completely lost and distant.
"They've been bringing people in shuttles full for a while. It's good to see you made it out."
Clint surveys the crowds, then turns back to the man.
"Where's Bobbi?"
Clint can just about gather what Hunter's answer will be before he even opens his mouth to speak, if his expression is anything to go by.
"They took her. I didn't even have time to register what was happening before they were dragging her away."
The sheriff takes notice of a young boy running into the welcoming arms of his mother. Tears are replaced with joyous laughs and kisses, and only one thing keeps running through his mind, over and over and over.
Natasha.
"I've gotta get back in there."
Lance grabs a hold of his arm then, forcing the sheriff to break his unwavering determination to find a way back into the quarantine zone, to turn and see the man wearing such a look that tells Clint that he's seen horrors tonight that he can't even begin to fathom.
"I wouldn't. This seems like our only chance for salvation here, Clint."
Clint mulls over Hunter's words for a few moments, trying to fathom how he can stand there and say something so absurd.
And to think, he's the one Bobbi dumped him for when they were 21.
"I'm going."
"Sheriff..."
"Look, don't ask me why I can't leave behind my wife, and I won't ask you why you can."
He leaves Lance behind wearing a guilty frown as he searches for any type of transportation back into town.
He thinks he can maybe try and hide out in the back of a cargo hatch, but he would have to make a very narrow escape, and he wouldn't be any help to Natasha if he gets shot.
"Chief!"
He shoots his head up to see Maria and Sam crowding around Steve, who looks like complete shit.
"Steve, what the fuck happened?"
The man keeps his gaze trained on the ground, a steely determination rooted in his features.
"They took Bucky. I freaked out, so they tased me."
Clint's had enough. These men and their supervisors are the reason all this chaos is happening, and they have the sheer audacity to do this shit to him and his wife and friends.
Fuck that.
Sam takes a firm hold of his shoulder and meets his expression with the same sheer fire in his eyes.
"Don't worry, Chief. We've got a plan. Every ten minutes, a different group of guys cycles through here in a Humvee, and switches out with another crew. There's a big ass field right on the other side of the depot, and it leads right out to 143, which we can take back into town. Because that old bridge is out, they didn't bother barricading it. As soon as the next crew does their exchange, we'll take the few moments that the vehicle sits unattended and snatch it."
They all sit in silence, preparing themselves for the madness that is about to ensue.
"Sir, our supervisor would like to speak with you."
Before Bucky can register what is happening, a firm hand is being placed on his injured shoulder, cutting off his protests before they exit his mouth.
The guy must realize the pain Bucky's in because of his hold, because he presses into his shoulder even harder as he leads him away from everyone.
No one is even looking, Steve too preoccupied trying to keep Clint from getting himself killed. He decides that putting up a fight wouldn't be a very good idea, and let's the man, Rumlow, if his badge is anything to go by, lead him away.
As soon as they are a safe enough distance away that Bucky feels certain Rumlow won't take any aggression out on his fiancé and friends, he pulls himself loose from the bastard's grasp and then kicks him hard in the shin.
"You can escort me where I need to go without re-opening my wounds, asshole."
The thug makes to argue, but Bucky gives him a look that discourages him immediately.
They eventually enter one of the side wings of the school, and a minute later, Bucky is being deposited into a small classroom.
At the head of a long table is an older man in army uniform, looking over an expanse of paperwork.
"Bucky? Oh, thank God!"
He whips around just in time to be enveloped in Bobbi's arms.
"Bobbi! Are you alright?"
She pulls away from him to wipe at her eyes. He can't see any injuries on her, rather just looking emotionally taxed. Rightly so, he thinks, given the circumstances.
"I'm fine. Terrified, but that goes without saying."
The man rises from his spot at the foot of the table to move toward them, already extending a hand to be shaken.
"Mr. Barnes, I'm very sorry to be meeting under such circumstances, but it was your e-mail to Dr. Cho that clued us in to this contamination. You and Ms. Morse here seem to be our best chance at a solution to this mess."
He motions for them both to take a seat as he's talking, and then sits opposite them, opening the files he was just scanning over for them to leaf through.
"What about Dr. Banner? I thought he was supposed to be trying to find a cure."
Ross seems to intently avoid Bucky's gaze, and keeps his tone neutral, though both he and Bobbi can almost too easily pick up on a hint of hostility.
"My supervisor is no longer sure in Colonel Rhodes and Dr. Banner's ability to handle the situation efficiently, so I've been asked to work with the two of you to try and put an end to all this horror."
Bobbi shutters at the report laid out in front of her.
Test Subject 19: Patient's mental capacity deteriorating at alarming rates. Cerebral hemorrhaging prevalent. Very violent tendencies. Ordered to keep attendants away from subject.
"Can I ask who you possibly tested this on without being court marshaled and stripped of your badge?"
Ross seems very good at avoiding eye contact when asked difficult questions, as he doesn't bother looking at Bobbi while giving his reply.
"That's not anything you should concern yourself with dear. What I need you both to help me do is ascertain a cure for this virus."
Bucky makes a show of closing the folder in front of him, before clearing his throat and making sure Ross is looking right at him.
"Have you considered the Milwaukee protocol?"
He just gives Bucky an indifferent look, but Bobbi seems to be a bit disturbed by the notion.
"I'm not familiar with such a thing, I'm afraid."
She continues to wear the same uncertain expression as she begins to explain.
"It involves the use of a medically induced coma as a means of helping the body build up an immunity to the virus while all major brain functions are stopped."
He actually seems to consider the option.
"It'd be difficult, but I could have the necessary supplies here in under two hours. We can keep the infected isolated until then, and then continue to use the school as a quarantine zone until we are sure they have fought off the infection."
He pulls out his phone and then sits it in the center of the table after pressing a number in his contacts.
"This is Agent Carter."
"Sharon, this is Ross. I have Mr. Barnes and Ms. Morse and I believe we may have a solution to this contamination. Is Pierce with you?"
"He's currently speaking with the President. I'll have him call you as soon as he becomes available."
"Thank you."
Bucky and Bobbi share an astounded look, the mention of the president's involvement shedding light onto the depth of what is quickly turning into the perfect script for a pretentious Indie horror film.
An eerie silence seems to settle in the room for a moment, before a blaring alarm is sounding off, and Ross is unholstering his gun in an instant.
"Both of you stay here. That signals a breach in the exterior. I'm going to go see what happened."
Once he's out the door, Bucky closes it tight before turning and taking Bobbi's hand.
"I hate this. I really hate this. I should be doing wedding planning right now."
She tries at an honest smile, but her nerves radiate through with it.
"Once this is all over, I'm throwing you a bridal shower. And by that I mean, it'll just be you, me, all the girls and beer."
His smile falls once he remembers what had happened to Nat just a few minutes before.
"They took Natalia. She registered a high fever. Clint tried to tell them it was because of the pregnancy, and they knocked him out cold. I'm not so sure these people are the saving grace they're trying to paint themselves as."
Bobbi just collapses back into her seat, silent tears once again falling from her eyes.
"Lance left. They escorted me to see Ross and gave him the option of staying with me or leaving in a shuttle, and he left."
Bucky's heart absolutely shatters then. He knew that the two had been having problems. He and Bobbi were both one another's shoulder to cry on. (More meaning, she would complain about Lance, and he would gush about Steve.) For Lance to just leave her behind however? It makes Bucky want to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him.
She gives an inquisitive glance out the door as she once again dries at her eyes.
"I smell smoke."
They very slowly open the door, Bucky keeping Bobbi behind him, and turn to stare down the expanse of hallway that Ross had left down moments before.
Sure enough, a small billow of smoke is emanating slowly at the other end.
"We need to move. Stay behind me."
Bobbi stays pressed to his back as he begins moving away from the smoke cloud, knowing that exit doors sit at the top of a stairwell around the corner at the end of the hallway.
He stops when he hears footsteps approaching.
As Ross rounds the corner, Bucky feels tremors run through his entire body at the ghostly pale expression the man is wearing.
He is paralyzed with fear when the man falls forward, a shattered graduated cylinder lodged in the back of his head.
Grant Ward is another man that Bucky was just never fond of. Kara is very much like Bobbi. Very sweet and kind, just unluckily ending up with an asshole.
He looks absolutely terrifying with a blood-soaked shirt and palms, smiling down at the number he just did on Ross.
He's charging at both of them an instant later.
Bucky's transported back to twelve years old, fighting off the huge guys his fiancé used to always seem to mess with.
As Ward is now right in front of them, Bucky very quickly throws a hard kick into his knee, and the man howls in pain. He throws back his head ever so slightly, and Bucky takes the opportunity to throw his open palm up and break the man's nose before hitting him in his vagus nerve just below his ear, rendering him unconscious.
Bobbi takes a moment to gather herself before, of all things, grabbing Bucky's shoulders and breathing out a small laugh.
"Where'd you learn to do that?"
He grabs her hand and continues leading her down the corridor while letting himself laugh a little.
"When we were kids back in Brooklyn, Steve liked to pick fights with guys twice his size. I was the one who had to swoop in and save him. Then when he became a cop, he insisted that I take all his self-defense courses with him just in case he ever wasn't there to swoop in and save me."
"You guys are too fucking adorable for your own good."
They continue weaving their way through the dark hallways, and eventually make their way to the exit doors.
Bucky tries in vain to push them open, then finally turns back to Bobbi defeated.
"I was afraid this was gonna happen. We're quarantined. We're not supposed to be able to get out."
He grabs her hand and begins leading her away down another hallway, now in search of Rhodes. Hopefully he'll be able to explain what the plan now is.
And hopefully he can do so before any more bodies pile up.
Clint's heart is racing. Any second now, the Humvee transport will be arriving, and he and his deputies will have only minutes to pile in and try and make their way back into town.
He'll be damned if he allows these people to harm Tasha, or anyone else.
The three deputies surrounding him have identical expressions. They've been ripped from their peaceful existences and thrown headfirst into this nightmare. Each of them knowing what's at stake, but still standing by one another's sides unwaveringly; Clint knows that he couldn't have a better group of people to face these horrors with.
All of them have seen horrid things in their pasts.
Maria's father having her believe for most of her childhood that it was her fault that her mother had died during labor.
Sam watching helplessly as his best friend was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan.
Steve still dealing with PTSD from a warehouse bombing that took the lives of his former colleagues, whom he endearingly referred to as the "Howling Commandos" while he was still a rookie officer back in Brooklyn.
And Clint.
Well, Clint was pretty much raised in a war zone.
There is no way in Hell he's going to allow the shining dream he has for Tasha and himself to be torn apart by the events of the past few days.
He's a fighter.
His friends are fighters.
Because they all have each other to fight for.
"It's show time."
Clint feels a slight chill run down his spine at the fire in Steve's quiet statement, and with it, all four are slowly making there way to crouch down behind loading crates behind the building, as the transport arrives, and the uniformed men inside make their exit without fail.
They're on their feet and moving instantaneously, racing for the vehicle, and knowing that time is extremely limited.
Clint all but shoves Maria forward, signaling for Steve and Sam to stand watch.
"Do your thing kiddo."
She very pointedly rolls her eyes at him before jumping into the drivers seat, and busting open the steering column, before pulling at a series of wires that Clint can't begin to even fathom operate.
"This'll only take me a minute."
Everything is becoming far to real, far to fast. Clint turns away from Hill, just in case she doesn't handle the pressure of an audience well, instead taking estate beside Sam.
If these men are consistent, they should have five minutes before the next group emerges from the depot.
Clint can't help the nerves biting at him, knowing that they cannot get caught. Knowing that they can't lose the only means of making it back to Natasha and Bucky and Thor and everyone else still trapped within the pages of the real-life science fiction thriller that is their home town.
"Hill. They're coming."
She doesn't say a word, just continues working.
Steve steps forward, panic clearly etched into his features now.
"Hill! They're gonna be on us in about thirty seconds!"
Some higher power must intervene then, because the engine sputters to life, and Maria lays her foot on the gas to keep the thing from stalling.
"Get in. Now!"
The three men do immediately as they're told, cramming into the tight confines of the vehicle in a mass of flailing limbs and incoherent profanities.
They're all silenced as Maria slams on the gas and peels out of the cement lot, and continues accelerating through the open expanse of field behind the building.
The sound of distant shouts can faintly be heard, and just as Steve is about to turn to look back to the soldiers, a gunshot ricochets off of the side of the vehicle.
All three men scream in unison, causing Maria to let out an almost completely unhinged, maniacal fit of laughter.
"This never happened in any of the ride-alongs chief!!!"
Another gunshot rings out, but the humvee is far enough from the group of men it was stolen from that the bullet fails to reach it.
Clint and his friends are suddenly very aware that there is no turning back.
Can't be.
They will get through this.
Together.
"They've broken through the fourth line of defense! We have orders to shoot on sight."
The poor sap is to busy giving orders to his retreating comrade to notice Thor sneaking up behind him, and then he's out cold on the pavement.
One moment, he's being led with a group of others to a shuttle meant to carry them out of the quarantine zone; the next, he's dodging bullets and running for his life from a group of infected that had somehow breached the security.
The bastards had actually taken down a number of the uniformed men and set fire to the school library, making a perfect distraction for the rest of the detained to make an escape.
Thor has a tether keeping him searching here, however.
Jane.
He has no idea whether or not she's even here. It's completely possible that she was shuttled out of the school grounds already.
He remembers seeing what looked to be a nerve center in the main entrance hall of the school when he first arrived, and figures that's his best chance of finding out where she is.
He grabs the walkie and pistol off of the guy he just knocked unconscious, hoping to be able to hear orders coming over the device, enabling him to stay hidden from any patrols or infected.
Slowly, he makes sure to stay hidden in the shadows as he moves between buses parked alongside the building, en route to a side entrance that will lead him toward his destination.
If he actually survives this, he might just drop down onto one knee and propose to Jane right then and there.
Sharon cannot remember a more agonizing scenario in her nearly ten years with the CIA.
It'd been nearly two hours since Ross had ordered the containment protocol, and since then, none of the four level eights that Pierce has in place in Waverly have made contact.
The feeling in the situation room is a heavy one.
Fury is just sitting unwaveringly still, reading over the Extremis files, and not speaking to anyone in the room.
Pierce has been on the phone with President Ellis for the past hour, assuring him that the situation is completely under control.
Stern hasn't stopped pacing since the order was given, and it's starting to really eat at Sharon's patience.
A small sliver of paper is pushed toward her then, Fury giving her an inconspicuous look, and the other two men too enticed in their own personal state of mind to notice the discreet gesture.
As slowly as possible, she unfolds the paper, and pulls a file folder over to hide it.
"We've had eyes on this project from the beginning. Pierce lied about giving orders for the incineration. I believe the contamination was intentional. A test run to see the magnitude of the strain."
All of her thoughts come to a halt, and she feels the air knocked out of her.
There had been whispers about Pierce for months. How he had been making questionable calls and brash orders were being handed down more and more often under his guidance.
She doesn't want to believe that the man would pull a stunt like this, however.
Acts like this are performed by the men that she and her peers are trained to take down, not her superior officer.
"I'm going to grab some coffee, can I get anyone else anything?"
Pierce just waves dismissively, and Stern gives a simple negative response.
Fury is giving her the same expression as before, knowing that she has a greater plan at play.
She gives a curt nod to the man before exiting the room, and making her way to Pierce's office.
If the man is a guilty party in all this madness, if he's directly responsible?
Well, Sharon is going to get answers.
The faint sounds of gunfire and inordinate shouts combined with the unrelenting alarm and thick smoke billowing from the windows on the opposite side of the building are enough to make Rhodey chill to his core.
He's holed up inside a classroom with Bruce, Tony, and Pepper, who had joined up with the group as soon as they arrived at the school.
Ross hasn't radioed to anyone in almost ten minutes, and Rumlow and Rollins are both off somewhere shouting orders at the many masses of soldiers under their watch to keep the infected contained.
When he hears the orders to shoot on sight, he truly understands the gravity of the situation.
"We need to move."
Everyone hesitantly begins to move out of the room and into the empty hallway, deciding unspoken to move in the opposite direction of the smoke.
"Our best bet is gonna be to get out to the depot that they've been herding everyone else to. We can put a call through to D.C. and let them know what's going on."
A gunshot rings out in the empty corridor, and for what feels like an eternity, everyone seems frozen in place.
Then, in a horrifying instant, Bruce falls to the floor, completely lifeless.
"Not gonna happen, Colonel."
Rumlow is looking completely worse for wear, blood-stained and caked in grime and soot.
Pepper falls to her knees next to Bruce, but any hope she had of resuscitation falls away when she realizes he doesn't have a pulse.
Rhodes steps forward so that he is standing in front of both Tony and Pepper, and raises his hands in front of him.
"What the fuck are you doing Brock? Bruce wasn't infected."
"My kill orders didn't specify infected, Jim. If I feel threatened, I can shoot."
He gives them a sick grin before stepping even closer.
"Pierce doesn't think it's a good idea to have you running around here interfering anymore, Colonel. He says you're too close to the situation. I told him I'd solve that problem the best way I know how."
Another shot rings out, and Rhodes is hesitant to open his eyes.
When he hears Tony and Pepper both still alive and well behind him, he cracks an eye open to see Brock lying in a pool of blood, and Thor standing with a gun drawn.
"I felt threatened."
He moves toward the group, but stops when he sees Bruce lying lifeless on the cold tile.
"Fucking Hell."
Natasha can't shake the sense of dread that has settled in her core at how eerily quiet and empty the school has become.
It took all of thirty seconds after the alarm had been sounded for everything to descend into madness; Every one of the grotesque figures that had been inspecting those trapped in her ward simply abandoning them to their own defenses.
Completely restrained to the bed she's lying on, Nat finally builds up enough strength to lift her head just enough to survey her surroundings.
"Jane!!!"
The woman whips her head back to peer at her friend, relieved tears immediately forming in her eyes.
"Nat! Oh my God! Are you alright?"
She laughs in spite of herself, lifting her hands in a shrugging gesture.
"I was eventually going to end up on bed rest anyway."
Nat allows her head to loll back onto the pillow beneath it, feeling defeated.
"What are you in for?"
Jane tries at a laugh, but it mostly just dies on her lips.
"It's been a stressful few days, and I always run a fever when I'm on my period."
Nat wants to reach out and wrap her friend in a hug.
That sucks.
"I'm so sorry."
Both of them fall deathly silent as the sound of footsteps approaching echo in the small room they're trapped in.
Kara rounds the corner, a sickly sweet smile playing on her lips. She stands impossibly still, just observing everyone in the room. Slowly, she pulls a hand gun from its place in a makeshift holster and makes her way down the center of the room, having a perfect view of all those confined in this Hell.
Then, she pulls the trigger.
Nat just whimpers as she looks to see the victim of the bullet, Chester Phillips, as the life drains from his eyes.
Kara seems overjoyed at the dying man in front of her, her eyes holding an almost brightness at his now blood soaked sheets.
She pulls the firing pin, and once again raises the gun.
Another shot rings out in the small space, and this time it lands just beside Jane, hitting Obadiah Stane, whom Nat hadn't even noticed tied down in the room.
Just as before, it takes only seconds for the light to leave his eyes completely.
Natasha's vision becomes blurry then, tears starting to stream from her eyes.
Kara mirrors her haunting post-shot actions, this time going as far as placing a soft open palm on Stane's cheek, almost as a mother would do for her child.
Nat wants nothing more than to flee when the woman's eyes fall on her, and her smile becomes something much more sinister.
Her heart rate accelerates incrementally as Kara begins to approach her, looking much like a predator stalking it's prey.
The woman raises the gun, and Nat clenches her eyes shut, silently screaming out a final 'I love you' to her husband, not even knowing if he himself is still alive.
Instead of the loud blast she's expecting, she's met with a small metallic click, and opens her eyes to see Kara throw the pistol aside frustratedly.
Not deterred however, the woman grabs a pillow from a nearby bed before once again closing in on Natasha.
She vaguely registers Jane shouting, pleading for Kara to leave, to come back for her, to leave Nat alone, "She's carrying a child!"
Before she has a chance to even scream, Kara has the pillow above her, completely smothering her, and all she can do is try and fight against the restrains of the bed.
"STOP! KARA, STOP! COME OVER HERE! LEAVE HER ALONE!!"
Nat knows she should try and remain calm, preserve her breath, but panic sets in, and she feels absolutely helpless.
Utter helplessness.
She's struggling.
She's struggling......
She's........
From a few feet away, Jane watches in horror as Nat's body goes completely limp.
Kara just smiles down at her work, slowly pulling the pillow away from Natasha's face.
"You bitch. You sick fucking bitch."
Kara doesn't even acknowledge Jane's words, rather just continues smiling down at Natasha as she slowly moves her head in closer, placing a soft kiss on the woman's forehead.
Nat takes the opportunity to wake from her death act and grab a fist full of the woman's hair, pulling her head down hard to slam against the side rail of the bed she's tied onto.
Kara staggers away from her, the blow obviously causing injury, but unfortunately not as much as Nat had hoped, for the woman begins to make her way back over to her a second later.
She grabs a pair of medical scissors beside her and raises them with the intent of impaling Nat.
Bobbi knocks her unconscious with a fire hydrant before she has the chance, however.
"Natalia!"
Relief floods over Natasha as Bucky begins to free her from her restraints.
She's aware that's she is a complete sobbing mess, but can't find it in herself to care.
Bobbi strides across the room to untie Jane, as Bucky pulls Natasha into a tight embrace.
"You're alright. It's alright. We're gonna get out of here."
The four fall deathly still as the sound of more footsteps approaching grow louder and louder.
They hold their breaths for what feels like an eternity, before a single hand finally pulls back the plastic quarantine curtain, and a massive blond figure barrels into the room.
"Jane!"
Thor has her engulfed in a firm hold seconds later, the woman once again spilling tears, this time due in part to the sheer relief that she feels seeing him alive and unharmed.
"Took you long enough."
He sputters out a wet laugh as he wraps his arms ever tighter around her.
Rhodey, Tony, and Pepper pour in a moment later, and for a second, an air of serenity falls upon the group. One in which they can just stand in companionable silence, and forget about the horror unraveling around them.
"Where's Bruce?"
Nat finally finds her voice again, only to wish she hadn't a few seconds later when the downcast and broken expressions running across the other's faces answer her question for her.
'This is Rollins. We have direct orders to use lethal force on any non-military personnel. Do not under any circumstances, allow any crazies to exit the quarantine zone.'
Everyone's eyes fall on Rhodes' radio then, the tranquility of their reunion now shattered by the bleak reminder of the situation that they are faced with. The very men who put them in this Hell, who came with guns drawn under the guise of protection, hidden behind the excuse of searching amicably for an end, have now murdered countless amounts of those they swore to protect, including the one man who above all others, could have actually found a cure.
Rhodes gathers himself, and then looks to the group surrounding him, an intensity and fire in his eyes that stirs something in all of them.
"I'm still saying our best bet is to make our way out to the depot where they shuttled everyone off to earlier. We can contact D.C. Once we're there and let them know there are innocent people dying in droves out here."
With that, they slowly make their way out of the room, and once again venture into the war raging on around them.