Kristie let herself do it, she let herself do the one thing she'd never done in the last several years of her life; she cried. It was brief, but it made her heart feel real again. She'd come to the conclusion that, although she'd always carry the survivors guilt, nothing she'd done the day of the ambush caused or could have prevented the ambush in any way. They stopped in the worst possible place, and overwhelmingly they were just outnumbered, everyone was scared and disorganized and for the first time Kristie thought about speaking to God. She was raised Catholic, but she'd abandoned the life style after serving tours overseas. Children carrying guns, women as suicide bombers and soldiers, Kristie couldn't by any normal means think there was a controlling power at work with any sort of love for humanity if such things could be a reality. The horrors of war had touched her, but even that couldn't compare to this. She heard movement behind her, and then Dinah's voice. Kristie recoiled slowly, letting out a tired groan and rubbing her eyes to mask her tears. She hoped the darkness would conceal her face, but a brilliant flash of lightening crushed that hope.<br/><br/>"<strong>Hey, uh..</strong>" Kristie's lip trembled, she struggled to keep her voice above a scared whisper. "<strong>...yeah everything is quiet so far. Minus the rain and storm...</strong>" Kristie winced as a massive bang of thunder rang out from the skies above. Kristie actually loved storms like this. She loved the rain, not only because of its tactical advantages but she found it to be one of the more calming aspects of nature. Beside sunrise and sunset, a nice, fresh white snow fall and a country scene in Autumn, rain storms and lightening were on her list of pleasent moments. She thought about saying something, but she remembered the situation. Kristie had to remain strong, strong like the Marines who died and she didn't. Kristie looked over at Dinah and forced up a smile, looking at the buckets. "<strong>Good thinking...</strong>" Kristie nods, looking back over the desolate parking lot. Kristie's head suddenly snaps to the toppled desk chair next to her, and her ruck sack laid against it. Inside was a standard green poncho, it would keep her dry and thus, keep her warm. But right now, the feeling of the rain on her skin was helping mend the wounds. Not just physical wounds, but the mental ones as well. Even during such horrible times, the simple acts of nature could calm the soul. Kristie heard Jakes voice, but didn't turn around, mostly because it hurt to move but also because she knew what he was doing.<br/><br/>Kristie looks over at Dinah and motions her over. Kristie leans to her right and grabs her ruck sack, ripping open one of the velcro pouches and pulling out a heavy plastic, dark green poncho. Kristie offers it to Dinah. "<strong>Here, take this. If one of you needs to come up to the roof tonight while its raining, you might wanna put this on. Every little bit counts, and we can't have anyone getting sick.</strong>" Kristie geninely smiles, in the back of her mind hoping to come across as moderately caring but more or less she felt guilty. She blamed herself for all of this, it was the job of herself and everyone she'd served with to prevent this type of thing from happening, and we were blind sided by this. Now it was their problem, Dinah and Markus, neither had to be here and both didn't deserve to be. They should be home, with family, living a life, not struggling to stay alive. Kristie didn't know where Jake was from, she figured him for National Guard or Army Infantry, but it didn't matter anymore. Any hope of resistance was lost with the convoy, Kristie knew it and everyone who was in on it knew it. If a convoy of tanks, APC's and over a company of heavily armed, well trained and organized Marines and Soldiers couldn't defeat a horde, what kind of chances were there?<br/><br/>Kristie mentally slapped herself for being so pessimistic but she ignored it as she caught a glimpse of Jake in a flash of lightening. She squinted slightly as she looked past Dinah, realising she was half stairing at Dinah's waist. "<strong>Is...is he doing what I think...he's doing?</strong>" Kristie chuckled, nodding her head towards Jake on the other side of the roof.