<div class="floatleft">(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S8nWEwDHoLo/VuctPJcFklI/AAAAAAAAZzE/LH_CQD1cWsM-36_em_H4CNSfKPtAAs7xg/s1600/tumblr_napkpgrAjV1qb647qo4_1280.jpg)<br/></div>Lt. James Manning was, first and foremost, a soldier.  At the time of the epidemic, he had been an infantry officer in the U.S. Army for seven years, six months, and one-hundred-and-fifty-seven days.  Jim had greatly enjoyed his time in the service, but he had not planned to be a career man.  Instead, James had laid the groundwork to attend college using the GI Bill, study economics, and then transition into a career in banking, like his father.  But the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.<br/><br/>James had been visiting his mother's home in Des Moines, Iowa, when the epidemic struck.  Because of the epidemic, the military brass suspended foreign military operations, and disbanded his unit with the understanding that the Pentagon would later establish a military command on American soil.  But they failed to do that.  Washington D.C. had been overrun and the call to form a new military to combat the epidemic never came.<br/><br/>But Iowa's state militia survived for a time.  James led a platoon charged by the militia to seek and destroy crawlers, but the platoon was overrun and scattered within a couple of weeks.  At its worst point in the heavy fighting, the crawlers outnumbered the men in the platoon by a hundred to one.  This, coupled with the short supply of ammunition, contributed to the platoon's near total loss of life.  But James had survived by the hair of his scalp, along with a dozen other men.<br/><br/>The militia consolidated these survivors and tasked them with protecting safe harbors.  This worked for approximately two months, until the safe harbors suffered catastrophic loss of life when survivors, living on a sliver of hope, hid their symptoms until they transformed into crawlers inside the walls.  The situation became morally repugnant when James' platoon was ordered to execute civilians presumed to be carrying the disease.  His mother, Darlene Manning, had been among those killed.  All of Iowa's safe harbors failed after that.  But James survived.  He led a group of ten people out of Des Moines and headed east.  The group thinned naturally as the goals of individuals differed, and soon James was left alone.<br/><br/>He had discovered the docked riverboat three days ago and made it into his makeshift home.  It was suitable because it's boarding ramp could be lifted manually to prohibit crawlers from boarding.  Still, James was not familiar with naval vessels, much less an antique like the riverboat, but a cursory inspection revealed that the thing at least floated.  He had surveyed the motor, as he had some experience working in an Army motor pool, but he could not get the engine to start.<br/><br/>When he boarded, James was carrying the following items:<br/><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>an AR-15 assault rifle w/ underbarrel flashlight and 4x magnifier; four magazines w/ 21 cartridges; no batteries on flashlight;</li><li>a 9mm baretta semi-automatic pistol; two magazines; no cartridges;</li><li>a KABAR military knife w/ pop-off compass;</li><li>a MOLLE system military vest w/ rig;</li><li>2 gallons of potable water in canteen;</li><li>7x potable water pills;</li><li>Climbing backpack;</li><li>2x Changes of Clothes;</li><li>Sleeping Bag;</li><li>No food.</li></ul><br/>He had been too tired to inspect the boat when he first arrived, but searched it the next day.  He did not find anything useful on board, except for some tools and a fire extinguisher inside of the conductor's cockpit on the second story.*  Manning made his home on the floor of the cockpit and decided to remain aboard the vessel until he could figure something out.  Manning then spent the remaining time fishing, hunting, and gathering wood.  His diet in the last two days consisted mostly of burnt frog.<br/><br/>He had been hunting for frogs in the grassy meadow when he accidentally came upon Arlene, pointing the barrel of his AR-15 at her.  Then, he quickly looked over his shoulder towards the dying sun and lowered his rifle.   "There isn't much time," he said as he then charged towards the boat.  As he descended on the dock, he<em>heard</em>Lucas before he saw him.  But Manning didn't say anything and instead ran up the ramp, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and began to raise the ramp.<br/><hr/><br/>*<em>This doesn't mean that there isn't anything on the vessel.  Just that Jim didn't find it.</em>