After The Fall

Ready

The gate opens and an older man around his late forties comes towards Cry's group. The man is dressed in the uniform of a soldier as they figured he would be, with graying short-cut hair. He has dark brown eyes, narrowed and calculating. He looks the group over before his eyes land on Cry once more, "You're the leader of this group, son?"

Cry nods after a moment of hesitation, "Yes, sir."

The man nods, crossing his arms, "So, you'll vouch for them, then?"

"Vouch for them?" Cry asks, "Why would they--?"

"Because I don't trust people blindly, son, and for good reason." The man replies.

Cry frowns, "Right. Yes, I can vouch for them. We're all good people."

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't immediately take your word for it." He says, "As you most likely already know, I am Sargent Masters. Private Barnes tells me you came here because of a broadcast you heard?"

"That's right." Cry states.

Sargent Masters nods, "You'd be the first in awhile to make it here then."

"There are other people here?" Signe asks.

"Not anymore, besides my soldiers," Sargent Masters explains, "We sent the last group over a few months ago."

"If it's safe there, why come back here?" Dan asks sarcastically.

"If we hadn't, you'd all be shit outta luck," the Sargent states with a bit of smugness, "You should be more grateful."

Dan glares at him, but says nothing. Cry clears his throat, "So, how does this work? How long do we have to wait to be sent over to Florida?"

"Well, first you all have to be checked and quarantined for infection. Once you're cleared, we'll make a schedule to get you kids over to the States."

"We're all grown adults," Dave says.

Sargent Masters waves his hand at them, "Compared to me, you're kids. Anyway, let's get you inside and checked out, we have a doctor on site."

He turns and gestures for them to follow him back through the gate. The group exchange looks before following after him. Just inside the gate, the young soldier from before, Private Barnes, closes the gate behind them. Sargent Masters turns back to them, "Wait right here, I'm getting the doctor. I also advise you to leave all your weapons with Private Barnes."

"What if we don't?" Dan asks.

The Sargent's eyes narrow at him, "We'll throw you back out and if you try to break back in, you'll be shot down."

He then turns and walks off. They all exchange glances once again and Cry sighs, handing off his knives to the young soldier standing to his left. The others follow suit and then wait as Private Barnes walks off with their weapons, waiting for Sargent Masters to come back with the doctor so they can get cleared to leave this diseased land. They didn't have to wait too long before the old Sargent comes back their way, a young woman with dirty blond hair and big, round glasses over pale blue eyes wearing a dirty tan trenchcoat over jeans and boots walking along beside him.

The young woman smiles at them, "Good day. I am Dr. Blake, Angelica Blake, you can just call me Angelica if you'd like."

Cry smiles, "Nice to meet you. I'm Cry, and these are my friends, Dave, Dan, Entoan, Signe, and Minx."

Angelica nods, "It's a pleasure. Now, Cry, why don't you get your check-up first, huh?"

Cry shrugs, "Sure."

He follows her to a small white tent near the center of the small encampment. They go inside and Angelica has Cry sit on a stool in front of her. The inside of the tent is bare except for two stools and two small cots along with a small table carrying a few different little items. She picks up a little flashlight from the table and turns it on, "I'm going to shine this at your eyes and I need you to keep your eyes open, okay?"

Cry nods, "Alright."

...

It didn't take long to get everyone checked out, and just as Cry knew they would be, they were all cleared. So, newly welcomed, the group gets a quick tour of the military camp. Or what's left of one, since it's small and there's not even that many soldiers around. This doesn't put any of them at ease, but they all try to ignore it. All except for Dan, who continues to voice his concerns dipped in sarcasm.

Cry sighs, "We won't be here for too long hopefully. Once the Sargent gets a schedule to get us out, we shouldn't have to wait too much longer."

"That's the hope," Dan counters, "What if this was all some kind of setup?"

They all look at him and he scoffs, crossing his arms, "Oh, come on! I can't be the only one thinking this!"

"You're not," Minx's voice startles them all and she steps through the circle they've made, some life back in her eyes, "Being cautious is never a bad thing."

While happy to see Minx back on her feet mentally, Cry can't help but to worry about the views she's taking on. Sure, he knows they have a point, but he also knows they can't afford to be distrustful of every person they cross. He sighs, "Valid, but let's think this through. Let's just keep our heads down until something changes. If they try to screw us over, then we'll act, but not before."

Dan frowns, but he says nothing. Not an acceptance, but not a denial to Cry's words, either. Too many things have changed, bad things happen, and he's having a hard time figuring out if anyone can be trusted. For now he'll keep all this to himself and play along. He doesn't want to end up alone in this world, but if things really are better away from here, maybe going off on his own afterward wouldn't be so bad.

Minx sighs, nodding, "Alright. We'll play along for now. They think you're the leader anyway, so keep your eyes open, just in case."

Cry nods, smiling lightly, "I got this. I won't let anything happen to us, you have my word on that."