Element 119

Introductions

One of the two remaining men looked up and met Sam's eyes with his own, his face pale but set in a stern expression, his lips pressed tightly together.

Fearing for the worst, Sam's own smirk changed into a grim line as she came close enough to the two men and the body that she could now see sprawled in the dirt at their feet. "Any bites?" she asked, all business now that she was in full public view.

One of the two men, older than both Sam and the other man by at least a decade, shook his head. "Not this time, thank God," he replied, his voice deep but with a tired edge. His dark eyes were expressionless, but the lines at their corners gave away his fatigue. "Just a scare was all this time."

Sam nodded curtly, but she felt her muscles relax slightly. "Where'd it get through the fence at, Mike?"

The older man-Mike-shrugged. "I didn't see it get through," he replied honestly. "Nick is the one who shot it."

Both pairs of eyes turned to look at the sandy-haired slip next to Mike, his pale skin seemingly even paler now, making the freckles on his face stand out that much more as he met Sam's stormy eyes with his spring green ones. He swallowed nervously before managing to work up his voice. "E-east side wall." His eyes darted to Mike who had a sympathetic expression, and then back to Sam's raging glare before he dropped his gaze to his worn sneakers. "I was watching a couple of the kids when it slipped through a space in the fence I didn't see."

Sam felt her heart plummet as she listened, but she gave no sign of it. They had already said no bites, so she didn't need to worry on it more. "I want the crew working on patching that up," she ordered, looking to Mike again. "Today, not tomorrow. If another one of those creeps gets in here today, I'll be throwing someone out with them."

"You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, Sam," Eric's bemused voice called from close behind her, immediately making her muscles tense in agitation. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes glaring daggers as Eric strolled calmly up to them, flashing a quick smile at Mike and Nick before tossing a wink at Sam.

"If you'd patched the hole sooner I-"

"But I didn't," Eric interjected calmly. "So can we focus on what actually happened here?" He looked down at the body sprawled at their feet and nudged it with his toe before glancing up at Nick who was now visibly shaking and looking anywhere but at the three people around him. "I take it you're the one who killed it?" Eric questioned him, waiting only a moment to see his nod before he nodded in return and looked back to Sam. "Right. I'll send Jason and Ruby to fix the fence right away so no more of the elementies get in here." He looked to Mike. "Do you think you and Angie could clean this one up?"

Mike nodded. "I'll go get her," he replied, nodding to both of them before trying to nonchalantly walk quickly away as he saw the explosion about to happen between Sam and Eric.

Sam crossed her arms, still glaring at Eric, and he in turn grinned at her before turning and putting a hand on Nick's shoulder. "You did well," he told the younger man sincerely. "Go on back and keep an eye on the kids. Seems like you're the best for that job still."

Nick nodded quickly, and then left the two at a light jog, not even trying to hide his relief at leaving the soon to be disaster area that always seemed to happen when Eric and Sam were near each other.

"When did you get put in charge?" Sam demanded hotly once Nick was out of earshot.

"I'm in charge whenever you can't make decisions," Eric replied calmly, stretching out his arms over his head. "Which right now you can't. Look at you, Sam. You're tenser than a bowstring."

"I'm perfectly fine," Sam replied, her voice calmer but still testy.

Eric scoffed. "You had that poor boy trembling like a leaf in a gale," he pointed out, mocking her by crossing his own arms over his chest. "You can't lead by striking fear into the heart of everyone in this camp."

"You can't lead by sugar-coating everything either," she snapped, turning from him and walking back towards her room.

With a grin, Eric followed. "Ah, and that's why we're the perfect team!" he replied happily, walking beside her now. "You're the fire that gets everyone moving, and I'm the ice that heals the burns. Poetry, isn't it?"

Sam sniffed. "If you spent less time with your books and more time doing your job, we wouldn't have anything to worry about," she muttered.

Eric shrugged, letting her have her point. "But where would the fun be then?"

In a flash, Sam turned on him, her eyes twin pools of fury. "You think our people getting attacked is fun?!" she hissed at him, taking a step closer to him. "You think putting lives in danger is fun?"

Calmly, Eric put his hands on her upper arms and pushed her against the wall of the building, holding her there gently but firmly. "Sam, I meant no disrespect," he said quietly. "But you need to lighten up. If you keep running around here with your eyes saying you'll rip apart anyone who talks to you, you'll tear this camp apart yourself."

"I built it," Sam hissed back, her temper in no way calmed. But it was the truth. When the outbreak had gotten bad, Sam's unit had been called to a nearby town to help break up several riots around the stores. But as she was trying to do her job, someone who had been infected for weeks showed up and the entire area went crazy with panic, everyone trying to get away. Sam had barely made it out of the town herself, but she knew she didn't stand a chance of getting home. And that's when she passed it.

It was abandoned due to the panic of the outbreak, but it was a solid concrete building, and around the entire back area was a twelve foot fence with barbed wire around the very top. As she investigated, she realized the reason for the fence. There were vehicles everywhere. Cars, trucks, vans, even a few service trucks and junk cars were inside of the fence. The back of the building that opened to the fenced in area had large roll doors, which made sense as she finally looked at the sign out front. Jay's Garage.

It had gone against everything she worked for, but Sam broke into the garage, cutting a hole in the fence and wandering around the place. It didn't take long for a plan to form in her mind, and she quickly set about making the plan become the reality that was around them. She had parked the vehicles against the sides of the fences entirely around the inside area to reinforce them slightly, and had boarded up the windows from both the inside and out of the building. For days she had been alone, and then stragglers started wandering in from different places, all trying to escape the outbreak. All of them seeking shelter.

Sam wasn't idiotic, but neither was she heartless. She had allowed people in, but not without searching their bodies for signs of infection and 'quarantining' them for one week in one of the workrooms. The garage had plenty, so she didn't mind sacrificing one for that purpose. Better safe than sorry. And eventually when enough people came in, Sam started sending out scouting parties to look for food, sources of fresh water, and anything else useful to the slowly growing colony. With more people, she began to have the fences reinforced and even stretched to surround the entire building and not just the back.

But Sam wasn't someone who tolerated people who didn't contribute or thought that they were better suited to leading the place than her. Sam wasn't innocent anymore. She'd killed people, though only in self-defense, and she'd kicked people out. The Sam who had built the camp was no longer the Sam that Eric saw before him now, seething with rage as he kept her pinned against the wall of the building.

She jerked her arms against Eric's grip, but they both knew that she wouldn't pull away.

"Sam," Eric said soberly, trying to get her attention. "When this first broke out, people needed that discipline to build this. They don't need it now. What people need now is a leader that can hold them together." As Eric finished speaking, Sam's eyes darted away, and Eric moved his head to keep her gaze, not surprised to see her temper still hadn't calmed. "What's wrong, Sammy?"

Sam's eyes snapped back to his as she actually made a low growl-like noise in her throat. "If you call me Sammy again, I'll rip your family jewels out through you nose," she threatened, jerking her arm once more. Eric, knowing when to stop, let her break free and watched her storm back to her 'room,' not knowing what to do to help her.