Marcus tried to hide the lack of disappointment in his face as his offer of a draft from his hip flask was politely turned down; though in order not to make it a wasted gesture he took a sip from it himself before securing the lid and slipping it into his jeans.<br/><br/>Jake seemed to find some humour in the question that he asked, but he found none in the answer that was forthcoming; he simply listened to what he said and felt his stomach turn over at the thought that there was nothing left of the army.  As bad as it had been; in the back of his mind he had convinced himself that the military would get a handle on the situation and turn back the tide, even if his eyes had given him a different perspective from the clouds.  From up there he had seen the devastation, the shattered towns and smoking mangled wrecks.  Usually the only things he had seen moving had been ’them’ and if it wasn’t then they very soon would be.<br/><br/>Was it really possible that humanity had so quickly succumbed to this plague that swept across the land? He wondered whether there was any truth to those rumours or if they were just delirious ravings of the hopeless.  He had heard occasional bursts of chatter on his headset as he had flown in range and the frantic pleas he had heard had been more chilling that the static.  He mused over the fact that as a species we had begun in the sea; perhaps that was how it would end by going full circle and returning to it, or on it at least.<br/><br/>He glanced back at the helicopter; his heart dropped at seeing the blades now still and limp.  He had an inkling what had happened to the engine and if he was right about that then the chances of  it taking to the air anytime soon were about as likely as him waking up and finding that this had all been some vivid dream born from downing one to many tequila shots at O’Malley’s.<br/><br/>“Can’t say I like the idea of hanging around slap bang in the middle of Deadsville USA waiting for the local welcoming committee.  Have you seen anywhere that looks promising?” he glanced around the carpark, but he couldn’t see much past the hospital.