PROJECT ANDERSON

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SARGE

We decided to take shifts with look out, so we would all get at least a little sleep before we headed out in the morning.

Sarge-10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Johnny- 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Melissa- 5:30 pm to 1:30 am

Melissa was still on her shift and I was in the kitchen planning out our route for the morning.

It was going to be a long trip and I knew that, so that meant that I was going to have to make sure that we had enough supplies.

Just when I was about to start packing, Melissa walked in with the rifle under her arm.

"Hey Sarge, everything is quiet outside, so I think that its safe for now." Melissa said with a yawn.

"Okay, you can go to bed if you want too." I said before moving to the fridge and grabbing a few bottles of water. "But first can you put these into the canteens?"

"Is this our plans for the morning?" Melissa asked as she sat at the kitchen table.

"Just the route..." I answered softly before heading over to the table. "We are headed to Charlotte's Ville and according to this map it's in Illinois."

"And you really think that she will know how to fix this?" Melissa asked with less than a hopeful smile.

"Yes, I just hope that she will be there when we get there." I answered trying to reassure her. "Andie is special...and I trust her completely."

"What is so special about her that she is worth risking your life for?"

"I don't know that yet, but we'll figure it out when we find her."

"What about your daughter and Timothy?"

"Melissa with all do respect I know what I am doing." I said before folding up the map. "You and Johnny don't have to go."

I was too tired to deal with this right now...I needed to finish getting everything ready for the morning.

I had to make sure we had enough formula and bottles for the little ones and enough food for the adults.

Melissa watched me for a moment before finally getting up and heading upstairs.

I could understand why she would have a problem trusting me fully, but to bring up my daughter and Timmy during a conversation that didn't concern them was just plain wrong; and she had to have known that.

They are the most important reason for me to find Andie and stop this.

After packing up all the necessary supplies I decided that I would get a few winks before we left at the crack of dawn.

THE NEXT DAY...

I woke up expecting to hear Lilly-Bella and Timmy crying like they normally did when they hungry, but the house was completely quiet.

I ran towards the nursery and to my relief Johnny and Melissa were standing in the room and feeding them.

"I figured that you two would have left during the night." I said from the doorway.

"What are you talking about Sarge? We want to help you end this." Johnny said before looking over to his sister. "Right Mel??

"Right..." Melissa answered softly. "I'm sorry about what I said last night Sarge...I was just tired and frieghtened from what happened."

"What happened at your base?" I asked as I walked over and took my daughter out of Johnny's arms.

"We were doing some gun training when we noticed something in the woods...Johnny's best friend Carlos went to investigate under the orders of our lieutenant, but he never came back." Melissa answered before looking over to Johnny. "That was when they started coming out...we fought them off the best we could, but the horde was too big...we couldn't make a dent..."

"We barely made it out with our lives Sarge, they were eating everyone." Johnny added on with a slight tremble in his voice.

"Were they soldiers or civilians?" I asked hoping that they would say soldiers, but based on what I witnessed yesterday I was worried that it had spread further outside the military confines.

"First it was just civilians, but as soon as they ate some of the soldiers they turned too...Sarge what happened? How did it happen?" Melissa asked tearfully.

As much as I would have loved to answer those questions, there was still so much that I didn't understand myself.

"The government created something out of their control, that's all I know so far." I answered softly. " But I am determind to fix this, so is Andie."

"Is there a cure?" Johnny asked curiously.

"Yes, but its hidden somewhere...I don't know where it is so don't even ask." I said before heading out of the room.

I knew that this was going to take a while and I didn't waste anymore time.

We needed to get going and I still had to pack the truck.

Johnny and Melissa came down the stairs after me, Melissa was still holding Timmy and Johnny was carrying Andie's rifle.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" Johnny asked eagerly.

"Yeah, you and Melissa can take some of the bags to the truck...I need to make sure that we have enough ammo." I said sternly.

"How are we going to travel with both children? You only have one carseat." Johnny asked as he grabbed a couple of the backpacks. "I wouldn't want you to get pulled over and..."

"Johnny I don't think we have to worry about that." I said with a smile. "They are probably infected by now."

"Have you checked the NEWS?" Melissa asked from the living room.

"No, but I also didn't think about it." I said before placing Lilly-Bella down next to her on the couch. "Besides they probably shut down the towers to not cause world wide panic...we don't know how far this has spread."

"My cell still has signal and internet access, so maybe they didn't." Johnny said as he unlocked his phone.

"Look up any NEWS reports about what's going on." Melissa instructed calmly.

I watched as Johnny typed everything into his IPhone 30 and scrolled through the search results.

"Well did you find anything?" I asked impatiently.

"Nothing other than old zombie movies and some shows." Johnny answered as he continued to scroll.

"I'm checking the TV." Melissa said before leaning forward and grabbing the remote.

"Ooh, Mel I think this is your ex girlfriend." Johnny said before leaning over the back of the couch to show her his phone screen.

On it was a naked blonde woman with a Trump tan...she would have been pretty if she didn't look like an orange.

"Ugh...worse mistake of my life..." Melissa said before pushing his hand away.

"She wasn't all that bad...she had a nice car." Johnny said with a smirk.

"That was all she had..." Melissa said with a small laugh as she flipped through the blank stations. "They must have shut down the broadcast satellite."

"They must really not want anyone to know what's going on." Johnny said with a perplexed look.

"Because it was supposed to be a secret." I said before going back to the kitchen. "Now hurry up and get ready, because we're in twenty minutes."