"Congratulations, when shit hits the fan you get promoted from kid to sir real fast."  Jack said as the two lugged Ray through the sunlight street.  "The woman's name is Winter, and I'm Jack.  And until the three of you showed up a few minutes ago I was the only beating heart in this town.  I have been here for three days hanging out in the tower of the old courthouse.  The only way up is by ladder or rope so I figured it was pretty safe."<br/><br/>Jack looked down at Ray as he spoke up, "I think you are going to be ok, we just need to get you patched up."<br/><br/>Jack grunts as he lowers Ray onto a soft patch of grass under the trees in front of the courthouse.  "Say here, I will be right back." Jack scrambles over to the nearby humvee and rummages around in the back seat.  While he is looking you notice that the front of his truck is pretty badly smashed up and there is a green stain on the concrete under the engine.  He returns in a few minutes with a military first aid kit and begins to address Ray's wounds, carefully inspecting each cut or scrape to see if it looks like a bite.<br/><br/>"I guess I should start from the beginning.  Before all this shit happened I used to be a software engineer for the Army.  I worked on robots and UAV's and other high tech shit that doesn't matter anymore.  I was on a business trip to Ft. Hood when the Great Panic hit.  I got locked down in the base for nearly a month while the world fell down around our ears.  Finally somebody in charge decided it was time to kick ass or die trying, so they deployed the First Cav and Fourth Infantry to Austin to combat the growing hordes and take back the city.  We never heard from them again.  I waited another week until the horde was crawling up to the gates before I stole a humvee and as much supplies and ammunition as I could carry.  I was trying to get back home to Jersey when I got stuck here.<br/><br/>"I came in from the south on route 21 when I guess I must have zoned out.  This kid....fucking zombie kid wandered out into the street.  If I was on the ball I would have just run him over, but half out of it I swerved out of instinct.  I clipped a few road signs before I over corrected and slammed into the side of a damn semi trailer." Jack cocks his head back toward his truck.  "The impact knocked me out and when I came to I was surrounded by a small crowd of Zack.  Good thing it was an up-armored model or they would have pulled me right out.  I got on the deuce and cut them down.  Fucking 400 rounds to drop 80 rotbags; what a waste of ammo.<br/><br/>"I managed to get it peeled out of the trailer, but I only made it as far as the courthouse before it died.  I think I must have cracked the radiator, but I don't know too much about engines.  All the freaking noise I made woke every zombie in the area.  Fortunately I was smart enough to take the high ground in the tower.  I spent the next few days learning how to shoot better and picking off every rotting corpse that came by.  Jump forward a couple of days and and here we are."<br/><br/>Jack patched up a few of Ray's small lacerations when he saw one cut on his leg that caught his attention, "Hey buddy," he gently patted Ray's cheek, "have you been bitten?  Before the wreck; can you remember?  Did you have this wound before?"<br/><br/>