The Awake

We had been driving for another four hours, when Ben pulled over at another gas station for us to raid. I was the only one that went in this time. Zach was filling up the truck, when Emilie called out.

"Three enemy vehicles, approaching from the North!" She said looking at the tracker. I ran back to the truck and got in the back seat. Zach unhooked the pump and jumped into the truck. Ben hit the gas and we sped away from the gas station. On the tracker, the trucks were getting closer. We needed a place to hide the truck so Ben turned into a small neighborhood and into the driveway of a Two story house with a garage. Me and Zach opened the door and jumped out. We ran to the garage and pulled it open. There was barely enough room to fit the truck inside. Ben pulled in and Me and Zach shut the garage door. Then we both sped over to Emilie's door and opened it. Everyone, Including Tyson, gathered around the tracker in her hands. Two of the trucks kept going down the highway, but the other turned into the same neighborhood we were in. We all held our breaths while the truck got closer to the house we were hiding in.

"Do you think they know we're in here?" Ben said. I shrugged and kept my eyes on the tracker. We were two blocks away from the truck. From behind us, there was a knock on the garage door. We all froze. Had they found us? I grabbed my revolver and crept towards the garage door. I threw it open, ready to fire, to find three teens, aiming at my head.

"Everyone, come with us. You can leave your truck here for now. We have to move." The one in front said lowering his gun.

"Who are you? How do we know this isn't a trap?" I said keeping my gun pointed at him.

"Your choice, Amigo. Stay and get killed, or come with us." He said, as if my gun didn't intimidate him. I looked back at my friends, looking for an answer. They all nodded and grabbed their guns. Emilie held her knife in one hand and Tyson in her free arm. I looked back at the teens and nodded. Me and my friends exited the garage and we shut it behind us. The three teens looked at each of us as we got out.

"This way." The teen in back said, pointing behind the house. We followed their instructions and went behind the house. There was a fence bordering the treeline. The biggest teen, boosted everyone over, one by one. Once hidden behind the fence, we heard the sound of the truck engine pass by. We were all silent until the sound faded.

"What now?" Ben asked the teen, that we guessed was the leader.

"You can come with us. We have a outpost, not far from here." He answered. He was about as tall as me, and had a deep voice. The other was a very muscular person. He was taller than me and carried a very large axe. The third was about as short as Zach. They hadn't said anything the entire time, and only carried a small pistol. they were wearing a Ski mask with shades underneath. In the distance, I could see a house. It's windows were boarded shut and It looked abandoned. The three teens walked up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened slightly.

"Password" The voice said. It was a small, female voice.

"Awake" The leader said softly. The door closed and we could hear the sound of the door being unlocked. It opened and a short girl with glasses stood, holding it opened. She was extremely short. Her hair was light brown and down to her shoulders. She had a Batman shirt on and blue glasses.

"Who are they?!" She asked angrily.

"Just some survivors we found in the street. They won't be here long. " The leader said entering the house. He set down his gun and unloaded his backpack on the table. Me and the others, hesitated. We stayed out on the porch until someone waved us in. We walked into the house and The short girl shut the door behind us.

"I'm Peter." The leader said. He was dirty blonde and pale. The brute that had the axe stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.

"I'm Ben." He said leaning his axe up against the wall. Ben was very built. He had brown hair and blue eyes. "That, over there, is Hannah." He pointed to the third person, that had found us. Hannah pulled off the black ski mask she was wearing to reveal her long, beautiful hair. She was a ginger like Zach. I looked over at him to see his reaction, to find that he was frozen. His mouth was wide open. He was staring at Hannah. Ben elbowed him in the side and Zach quickly looked away.

"And I'm Katherine." The small one at the door said. She had a strong, southern accent.

"She runs the show around here." Peter said from the table. "I've never seen you around here before.. Where are you from?"

"Missouri. We're going to Texas." Emilie said checking out Peter. Peter's eyes opened, twice as big when Emilie said "Texas". Katherine choked on her drink.

"Where you say you goin', City girl?" Katherine asked furiously.

"I said we're going to Texas. And my name's Emilie." Emilie said, setting Tyson down and putting her hands on her hips. Great, I thought to myself, This is all we needed. Drama.

"Woah, hey we don't need to fight about it." Zach said standing between the two. "May I ask, what is wrong with Texas?"

"Texas is crawling with sandmen." Hannah said to Zach, from the corner. "They have a base in Austin, and have Armored trucks patrolling the entire surrounding area. There's only a small chance anyone could get anywhere near the base without being detected."

"Well, little lady, that's a risk we're willing to take." Zach replied, trying to sound cool. Our Ben just sighed and put his face in his palm. Zach ignored Ben and continued. "Besides we already have a plan to get in. We go in and take out one of their trucks. Then, we take their uniforms and proceed into the base. Once inside, We search for one of their head scientists and tase him. After he is unconscious, We sneak him out, back into the truck, and take him hostage. After we get back to our truck, we ditch the stolen truck and hop into ours. When we're out of their territory, we'll make the scientist tell us all he knows about Operation Sandman."

"Pretty well thought plan. But there are some flaws." Hannah replied getting up from her seat in the corner of the room.

"And what are they?" Zach asked, moving in her direction.

"First, It is going to be nearly impossible to kill the each of the patrol men without damaging the uniforms. Second, wouldn't it be easier just tricking the Scientist into leaving the compound with you? And third, there are five people in a patrol squad, and none of them are women. " She explained, moving towards Zach at the same time.

"Well, First, I'm a crack shot. Second, I don't know anything more persuasive than 50,000 watts of electricity. And third..." Zach stopped when he and Hannah were about a foot apart.

"And third?" She asked looking into Zach's eyes.

"And third, I guess we'll have to find two more guys." Zach said looking right back. The room was silent.

"Well... This is awkward." Their Ben said from the other side of the table. Zach and Hannah snapped out of each other's trance and turned to the two groups. They were both blushing and were almost the same color as their hair.

"I think that y'all have it under control so how about you get goin' and find yourselves two more men." Katherine said walking towards the door.

"Wait..." Hannah said to Katherine, almost in fear.

"What?" Katherine asked from the door.

"We could help them." She said, biting her lip, looking back at Zach.

"We would even give you some of our supplies. Anything you need." I said trying to convince Katherine. She was bright red and didn't say a word.

"Come on, Katherine, this could be good for us." Peter said breaking the silence. Katherine looked at Peter, then at me.

"If any of my friends are killed, I'll hunt you down, and I'll put a bullet right between those eyes." She said approaching me, with her finger in my face. I nodded and promised nothing would happen. During all the arguing, little Tyson had found his way over to Katherine's feet. He meowed to get Katherine's attention and she looked down at him. She bent over and picked Tyson up with both hands. This was the first time I've seen her smile. She cuddled with Tyson then set him down on the floor.

"Now" She started."What's the new plan?"