<strong>Michael Winters</strong><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/mrgerty/Characters/MichaelWinters-1.jpg)</div>Michael hadn’t driven long on the bridge when he noticed the long string of traffic with glaring break lights ahead of him.<strong>”Fuck…”</strong>he muttered in subdued exasperation. Cars and trucks of all types were packed in up ahead and some people were even abandoning their vehicles and running across the bridge towards the police barricade ahead, families running with their children in their arms and their few meager belongings in tow. Michael slowed to a near stop, not wanting to get boxed in from the front and the back. He decided to leave himself just a little wiggle room in front of him… just in case.<br/><br/>Just then, he spotted a police officer standing on top of a squad car up a head. He was still a good ways off from the roadblock, which he noticed was now being closed off by other officers. The officer on top of the squad car began speaking into a bullhorn.<br/><br/>"The bridge will be closed soon!" he called out "We ask that any remaining vehicular traffic proceed north along River Avenue to either the Mission Street shelters or the Hospital, River Avenue has been set aside for civilian traffic, all lanes on River Avenue are now Northbound ones. Thank you for your co-operation"<br/><br/>“What are we gonna do, Coach? What are we gonna do?” Travis asked with a strained voice, realizing the they were stuck here. He was trying to remain calm but his adrenalin was pumping freely and despite his size, strength and reputation as one of the meanest and toughest kids in the region, this wasn’t a football game. The days unfortunate events multiplied by the complete and utter chaos that followed strained Travis beyond anything he could have imagined and he found himself leaning heavily towards the “flight” aspect of the<em>fight or flight syndrome</em>often induced by the introduction of adrenalin into the system. Michael recognized that Travis was beginning to lose it and he reacted necessarily.<br/><br/>Michael braked, bringing the slowly creeping large off-road vehicle to a stop. Reaching across the trucks cabin, he grabbed Travis by the large white “R” stitched to the lapel of his blue and white Rockford Rams varsity jacket and yanked him halfway across the cabin towards him. Michael glared coldly at Travis as he snapped at him, his face stained with spatters of blood spray where his bat had sunken the skull of the rioter earlier.<br/><br/><strong>”Damnit, Travis! Get a hold of yourself! Suck it up! You’re a <em>SENIOR</em> for Christ’s sake! Now man up, son! I need your help getting these kids to safety, I can’t do it by myself! Can I count you, Travis?”</strong>As the team’s defensive captain, Travis had developed a sense of leadership and responsibility, and it was to these senses that Michael appealed, hoping to snap Travis out of his feeling of hopelessness and despair.<br/><br/>Travis blinked rapidly a few times and his expression grew more serious and determined. He nodded his head assertively, “Yes sir, Coach Winters!”<strong>”Good! That’s what I wanna hear, son! Now take this,”</strong>Michael handed Travis the ball bat that lay in his lap,<strong>”and if you see one of them fuckers getting close these kids or even this truck, you knock that son of bitch’s head clean off, do you hear me?”</strong>He had a scary, serious expression on his face and his voice was stern and harsh. “Yes Coach. I got it. Don’t worry. I won’t let them get close to the truck coach. I promise.” Travis had that<em>kick ass and take names</em>look about him again, that same look he always had during a game that made him just that much more intimidating. Michael reached up gave Travis a couple of good pats on the cheek with a proud look.<strong>”I know you won’t Travis. I know you won’t.”</strong><br/><br/>Michael turned around and looked out the rear sliding window shouting to the kids behind him.<strong>”Everyone hang on to something. They’ve closed the bridge ahead. I’ve gotta turn around before we get stuck here. Hang on tight everyone!”</strong>“Turn around? Are you fucking crazy?! I’m not going back there! I’m getting outt here!” A few of the kids agreed and they quickly scrambled out of the back of the truck.”<strong>”No! Wait! There’s a safe zone farther north up the river! I’m taking us there! Please, get back in the truck!”</strong>he called after them but most of them had already ran past him and would not be stopped. Travis, Calvin, the girl that Calvin had helped into the truck and two others were all that remained with the truck. He sighed and shook his head.<strong>”God DAMMIT!”</strong>he cursed softly. “It’s not your fault Coach. You tried. You did the best you could to help them. They’re on their own now. But you still have us here with you.” Travis added softly.<strong>”You’re right Travis. I have to keep my mind on the here and now. No sense in stressing over a bad play last quarter, right?”</strong>Michael referred to  one of his morsels of wisdom he used during games to get a players head back in the game after he’d made a serious blunder. “Right Coach,” replied Travis.<br/><br/>He nodded and then checked his mirrors and noticed that the car behind him was abandoned already, the young family running past them just moments before in a mad dash to make it across the bridge and away from the hellish scene which pressed in behind them.<strong>”Okay, you kids get up here against the cabin and away fro the tailgate. Hang on real tight… it’s gonna get a bit bumpy.”</strong>He eased on the accelerator, slowly backing into the car behind him. Easing on the accelerator a little more, the big rear tires bit into the car’s front bumper and then slowly began to climb up an over the hood of the silver dodge intrepid. He cut the wheel hard and continued to roll backwards. His rear tire slowly dropped of the side of the hood just as his front tire began to climb up and over. He kept turning and backing until he was nearly perpendicular with the flow of traffic. Stepping on the brake and depressing the clutch, he pushed the gearshift up into first gear and yelled back through the window again<strong>”Okay, we’re almost done here. Hang on just a bit more, going the other way now.”</strong>He slowly eased forward, cutting the wheel sharply to the left. His front tire slowly eased down as his rear tire climbed up and over once more. As the truck began to reverse it’s direction, the rear tire crunched into the windshield and sent into a myriad of tiny cracks before finally buckling under the truck’s hefty weight. The tire slowly dropped down off of the now ruined hood of the intrepid with a shudder and a bounce followed by an eruption of cheers from the back of the truck.<br/><br/>Michael gunned the engine and roared back down the bridge, hardly slowing as he tore into the turn northward and barreled down River Avenue like a bat out of hell… at least until he hit the line of traffic just past Meahe street where Mackinnon merges in from the southwest. He glanced about quickly, checking the surrounding area. It seemed clear to him, at least for now.<strong>”It’s okay. The … rioters haven’t gotten this far. We’re good. Let’s just relax and get to the safe zone.”</strong>Everyone seemed a little apprehensive, feeling more comfortable being on the move but they had no choice at the moment and resigned themselves to sit and wait.<br/><br/>They hadn’t been sitting there more than 2 minutes when he heard a tap on the roof of the truck’s cabin and glanced back through the rear window. Sliding the back window open he heard Calvin mention something about an injured girl in the car behind him. He checked his mirror and recognized the car behind him right away.<strong>”I’ll be right back. I just need to check on the car behind me. Stay here. I’m gonna go check on the kids in the back. Keep an eye on things here. No one gets behind this wheel but me, got it?”</strong>Michael opened the door and slid out of the seat to the road below. “Yes coach,” came the reply from Travis.<br/><br/>Michael opened the door and slid fro his seat, dropping the short distance to the road below. He left the door open just in case he needed to get back inside quickly. Walking to toward the rear of the truck, he stepped up on the rear tire looking into the truck bed at the kids inside.<strong>”Everyone okay back here?”</strong>They all nodded silently, aside from a few sniffles here and there. Then one of the kids piped up, pulling his ear bud from his ear. “Mr. Winters, they’re saying the rioters are actually not rioters but… zombies! That can’t be right, can it Mr. Winters? That’s gotta be a mistake, right? Zombies are real… right, Mr. Winters.” He didn’t say anything for a minute as his mind raced with this new information and to the brief conversation he had with his students earlier that morning.<strong>”I don’t know, son. Whatever they are though, we’re getting the hell out of here. They’re sending everyone to a safe place further north… which is where we’re going so you kids just sit tight okay? I’ll make sure you get there.”</strong><br/><br/>He hopped down from the tire and quickly jogged back to the car behind him, kneeling at the driver side door and glancing in quickly at all the occupants.<br/><br/><strong>”Susan.”</strong>he reached in and grabbed her arm gently, just above her elbow.<strong>”Are you okay? Calvin said someone was hurt?”</strong>He let her name slip, not even thinking that the two of them had never actually met. A quick glance told him that she wasn’t the one injured, and his attention returned back to Susan. He glanced up ahead of him quickly as he explained the situation ahead.<strong>”Listen, they’re sending everyone either to Mission street or the hospital.”</strong>He glanced Seyda one more, nodding to her matter-of-factly.<strong>”We need get her to the hospital ASAP, so I want you to follow my lead and stay with me. We’re find another way around and get her to the hospital. I’ll lead the way, okay?”</strong><br/><br/>He glanced to Todd, being the only male in the car.<strong>”You have any way to defend yourselves?”</strong>Todd gripped the metal table leg and lifted it just a bit. Michael nodded and patted Susan’s arm before slipping his arm out of the window.<strong>”Good. Good. Alright, Calvin leave the first aid and get in the truck. We’re getting the hell out of here.”</strong>He glanced to the back seat to Katie and tried to look as calm as he could.<strong>”Sweetie, can you take that first aid kit and use the sterile alcohol pads to clean those wounds on her legs? There should be plenty of badges in there to cover them up too. If you can do that, that would be really great. We’ll have her to the hospital as soon as possible, okay hun?”</strong>He didn’t wait for Katie to respond. He looked to Susan again and patted her car as he reiterated his plan.<strong>”Just say close to me… and try to keep up.”</strong>He smiled and gave a playful wink in an attempt to lighten the serious mood. He knew her car could easily overtake his truck any day.<br/><br/>He stood up and walked briskly back to the truck and climbed up inside the cabin. He closed the door and glanced to Travis as he buckled his seat belt.<strong>”How you doing over there Champ?”</strong>he reached down and grabbed the gear shifter and put it into gear, cutting the wheel hard to the left and pulling off of River Ave, over the sidewalk and onto Wilson Circle. "I'm good, Coach." It was slow going here since the road was narrow and cars were wrecked at various locations all along the road.<br/><br/>He weaved his way through the wreckage and checked his mirror to check on Susan. Once he was satisfied she’d made it through the obstacle, he yelled back to the kids again.<strong>”Hang on everyone.”</strong>he gunned the engine once more and it roared with a terrible, monstrous rumble as the truck shot down Wilson Circle. He slowed as he neared Caldwell Street and smiled as he glanced behind him at Susan’s muscle car.<strong>”Hang on! Sharp turn!”</strong>came the short warning. He slammed the brake as he went into the turn, yanking the wheel the left and sending the truck skidding slightly sideways. Fortunately the road was relatively clear at the moment, still he narrowly avoided sideswiping a large dumpster, throwing the gear selector into a lower gear and turning back into the skid, gassing the engine once more. The tires squealed and spun a bit, then quickly found purchase, lurching the truck forward once more. He continued west along Caldwell with Susan following, until he reached the main road of Warren Street.<br/><br/>Warren Street was cluttered with traffic, wreckage, and people running everyone. They came out just opposite of City Hall with was swamped with reporters, police and frightened citizens. Michael knew this was not the place to be hanging around and he quickly turned northward, forced to drive up on the sidewalks since the roads were so cluttered. He carefully picked and weaved his way along the sidewalk, barreling over smaller obstacles when he had to until they finally reached Mission Street, which was certainly no better than Warren. Creeping along the densely crowded area he saw the swarms of emergency personnel about and called out to those in the back of the truck. This is one of the safe zones. You kids can get out here if you’d like or continue on with me to the Hospital. Feeling safe with all the emergency vehicles and the masses of people, most of the kids got out, leaving Travis and Calvin with him in the truck.<br/><br/>He checked to see if Susan was still with him and she was right on his tail. Turning off on another side street they slowly made their way down Division street until they intersected with Medical Center Parkway. He pulled up as close as he could get to the emergency room doors and stopped, killing the engine.<strong>”Travis, stay here and guard the truck, okay?”</strong>Travis nodded, gripping the bat tightly. “Yes, Coach.” Michael hopped out and trotted back to Susan to help get Seyda inside.<strong>”Nice driving Susan.”</strong>he smiled lightly and winked.<strong>”Let’s get her inside right away.”</strong><br/>