Insanity (Sequel To Madness)

Outside

I now stand in front of the door to the real outside world. The members of Team 4 stand behind me. A man from the compound military stands in front of me with a com next to his ear. He's waiting for them to say it's safe for us to go. I had told them that as long as I'm here with my crossbow, we're all safe, but he didn't listen. The com goes off and a man on the other end begins speaking.
"Clear for departure. Over." He says and the man in front of my just nods. He grabs the large lever on the wall and pulls it down. The door in front of us opens with a creak. I look at the man and take in a deep breath.
"Tell Shane where I've gone... And give him this." I say, handing the man a small slip of paper. I had written a small note on it, just explaining to him where I've gone and why. With that I walk through the door without ant hesitation. The rest of the team follows me, I am the one leading this mission after all. I then look at a street sign, used long ago. It tells me that if I continue on this road I will find more cities and by the looks of it a dirt road. One just like the one we drove down to my wedding area. I could've just gotten a ride down there, but if I did that we would've missed our chance to search for Jack. He could be coming back after all, and if he is I'll find him this way.

***

The sun hasn't risen yet, and we've been on this dirt road for quite a while. On the way to our wedding destination, we drove all day and night on this same road. Even when we finally arrived, it was on this same dirt road. I know that if we keep going that we'll get to where we need to go and we'll find Jack. I stare at the ground while I walk, searching for any signs of Eaters or Jack. I've only seen a few Eaters and we took care of them just fine. Everyone on the team are pretty good fighters, but I'd expect them to be since they're on one of Shane's most precious teams. I continue walking, but suddenly stop when I see something on the road. A stick sits there next to a large drawing of Jack's septic eye design. The outline of the eye, iris, pupil and tail of it are all visible and a few leaves sit on the edge, to show that it has a green color; just like Jack's septic eye. At the top of the eye I see a small piece of paper underneath a stone. I walk around the design and pick up the paper. It has words written in messy handwriting, probably a pen he picked up on the way. I then begin reading the note, and it read:
'Whoever is reading this, give this to Violet Lancaster, she will understand what I'm saying. If you need to know my identity, I'm Sean McLaughlin, tell that to Shane if you need to. Now, to the actual letter part.
Hey Violet, I think you already know what I'm doing. I'm going after the bastard who shot you. I hope your wound has healed, and I hope to see you again soon. As you know, I protect my friends and I'm doing that again now. Here's what I know so far, the man who shot you was actually aiming for Shane, but missed. He was sent by a group called 'JC', and I think I know where to look. I'm sure you're smart enough to get that code, as it's just the opposite of CJ. I suspect he's the one behind this, so I'm going back to The Serene to look for him. You know what happens there, so don't you come looking for me. If anything send me more guns and knives, don't send anyone after me. I don't plan on taking anyone down with me, if I do go down that is. I don't plan on getting captured or killed, but if I am, don't rescue me. Just forget about me, Violet. I'll only come back when I've killed the man who shot you, and no sooner. I L you Violet, and I hope to see you again.
-Jack'
I take in a deep breath as I finish reading the last few sentences. Jack and I joked that in front of everyone we would say L instead of love. I guess he's using that in this note, what a little kid he is. I've already done half the things he told me not to do. But I wouldn't take any of it back, I'm not letting Jack die on me. Especially in these circumstances. If he is to die, it's going to be with me, no sooner and no later.
"What's that?" Duncan calls from behind me. I turn and hold up the note, just so they can tell it's a letter.
"It's from Jack. He just wanted to tell me to let him run off and get himself killed, but I'm not doing that. We're finding him first." I declare. I fold the note carefully and shove it in my breastplate next to the dagger I took from his house.
"You havent changed a bit, and that's a good thing." Fin says with a childish giggle. I haven't changed? I feel like I've changed a lot, from the strong person I was to being the weak person I am now. Although, that can be hard to see when they haven't seen me the last few days.
"Well, someone has a crush, and isn't even trying to hide it." Wendy chuckles, playfully punching Fin on the arm. She then starts walking towards me with a smug grin on her face.
"I do not!" Fin argues, chasing after her. I giggle lightly and shake my head.
"Well, I am married now, so even if you did, it wouldn't work out well." I say with a chuckle as I continue walking alongside Wendy.
"Oh yeah, congratulations about that." Wendy says with a nod, her eyes sparkling in the small light of the sunrise.
"Thank you. I think you're the first one to actually say that to me." I say with a nervous laugh, trying to keep all my memories inside me.
"Oh, yeah, I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry for you as well, no one deserves what happened to you." Wendy says sincerely, the glint in her eyes suddenly fading entirely.
"Thank you. I'm still trying to deal with it myself." I admit. We continue walking in silence, there's nothing else to say now. We've already gone over my happiness and grief, and now it's just awkward if we go on with the conversation. We go on for miles, until the sun in already in the sky and I'm sure Shane is now awake and knows that I'm gone. He probably is calling different compounds and has told Mark in a panic. Shane has his resources and is probably using them all to try to find me. But he won't find me, I'm sure. All of his teams have left and I haven't seen anyone outside the walls yet. He can't find me, and he knows it. Although, it was his own fault. He gave me command over this team, and I'm going to use it.