Long Trip Alone

[kristhiana]

Kris returned to Haven quite a few hours later, a pocket full of sharp pencils. As she jogged through the gate towards the Admiral's office she smiled to herself, the secret she had stashed in her left thigh pocket made her feel not only nostalgic but less worried about the question that Nik had asked her, not any more certain on an answer but happier none the less.

When she found the office empty she scowled, her brows creasing until they almost touched. She whirled around on her heel and almost crashed into an officer that was standing right behind her.

“Sir” the young captain paused then changed his tone and added sheepishly “Ma’am”

When Kris frowned he repeated his original greeting “Sir, the Admiral has left Haven, he left out of the rear gate on a horse several hours ago. He has not been sighted since”

Kris frowned, her face a mask of angry stone, inside her anger boiled and she clenched her fists at her side.

“Captain” she asked in a accusatory tone “Tell me Captain, how often does the Admiral go out into the Wasteland alone?”

The young Captain frowned thinking then shrugged “Well usually you follow him sir, at a distance like. And sometimes you order someone else to follow him” the Captain grinned pleased with his answer then remembering himself added “Sir” to the end of his statement.

“Yes Captain, despite what the Admiral believes, he does not go unescorted onto the Wastelands because it is” she took a deep breath to calm herself but found herself yelling right in the captain’s face, her nose barely an inch from his “Because its not bloody safe”

She spun and started to storm out of the room but quickly spun on her heel, took 3 giant steps back to the Captain and punched him in the face hard. Blood sprayed across her face but she didn’t even blink.

“If a single hair on the Admiral’s head has been harmed I will kill you with my bare hands do you hear?” she hissed at him

The captain barely managed to nod, his hands over a profusely bleeding nose and his left eye swelling quickly.

As she strode out of the room she called over her shoulder “Report to the Brigg captain, I will deal with you later”

She jogged towards the stables and found her favourite horse, he was fast but strong, quiet and biddable but with enough attitude that she had no doubt she could gallop him through a mob of zombies and send them scuttling like cockroaches.
Not worrying about a saddle she grabbed a bridle from the hook outside his stable, put it on his big grey head and swinging the stable door open vaulted onto his back and galloped out of the stable, his hooves making a scrabbling racket on the cobbles.

The rear gate was opened as soon as she came into view and she galloped through the gates and out into the wasteland. As the horse galloped, she steered with her knees following the hoofprints clearly visible in the hard packed sand. She quickly did an inventory of the weapons she had on her person, two 9mm one strapped to either thigh, a small derringer tucked into the waistband at the back of her pants. She had double edged blades strapped to each calf and a rifle slung over her shoulder. She had not gone to the city unprotected and she was grateful she hadn’t turned in the weapons at the armoury before heading to the Admiral’s office. She hoped the Admiral had thought to be well armed before he left.

She slowed as the tracks changed, the horse had slowed here but she could see no signs as to why it had changed to a walk. Her horse was winded, breathing hard but she had to make up ground, and if his horse was walking all she could do was hope he was still on the horse and wasn’t injured. She slowed her horse to a trot, trying to make up ground but not break down the horse. It wasn’t long before the walls of the canyon made long shadows across the track and an uneasy dread started to creep up her spine. She dismounted, judging she was safer from ambush on the ground than perched atop a horse, she dropped the reins and letting the horse crop at the short grass that was growing between the rocks.

She walked slowly, following the track, she looked around, up, left, right, behind her, in front and again, this was the perfect place to be cornered by zombies and she didn’t want to take the chance of being caught unaware. As she rounded the bend she spotted an area that looked different, the track changed and became a jumbled mess as though the horse had danced around. She sprinted to the spot, the indent of a form in the sand becoming more and more visible. She stopped just before it, the side of the indent was tall enough and big enough to have been the admiral. The hoofprints went off to the left, through a narrow opening in the cliff face but there was other tracks around, shuffling tracks of zombies. Amoung them she saw the irregular foot prints of size 12 boots, but before she could follow it she saw something that caught her attention. She dropped to her knees, her fingertip dipped into the thick coagulating blood.

She grit her teeth, choking back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks “soldiers don’t cry” she snapped to herself as she stood “get it together soldier” she imitated the hard cold voice of Nik’s father.

Taking a deep breath she took off at a jog, she barely took 2 steps before several loud gunshots echoed off the canyon walls, in quick succession and close. Kris stopped, listening, counting, Who ever had fired the gun was now out of bullets. She broke into a run, sprinting across the rough ground, slipping on uneven rocks. As she came around the bend she saw them, two zombies trying to reach something dangling from the cliff face. She squinted against the shadows, that was something that was a someone and that someone was Nik. She saw an instant flash of sun against metal held against Nik’s face. She screamed “NIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKK” as she pulled the pistol from her left thigh. Not slowing she fired twice in quick succession, taking the zombies out with a single shot to the head each.

“NIK” she yelled again as ran the last few yards to the cliff face.

He hung limp by the ankle, she gagged at the stench of so much rotting flesh but she clambered over them to get him. As she reached up to touch his face there was a creak and he fell the belt having given way. He fell onto her and her legs gave way and they both crashed to the ground, him atop her. With a grunt she managed to roll him off so that she could crawl out from underneath him. She took a deep breath trying to control the shaking of her hands as an overload of adrenalin that coursed through her blood stream. She looked down at the blood on Nik’s head, the broken belt and the dead zombies lying around. Her stomach heaved and she turned and vomited behind a pile of rocks. Finished, her stomach still lurching but empty she turned back to him.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” she glared at his still form “Fucking going and getting yourself near killed, damn it” she took a deep breath to steady herself but it just seemed to fuel her anger “Not a care in the world and off you go for a ride you stupid ass, and here I come to save you” she narrowed her eyes “Well fuck you Nik, fuck you to hell”

She dropped to her knees beside him, lifting his head into her lap. She took a deep breath and sighed as she softly stroked his cheek. She took a deep breath and lent forward, resting her forehead against his as tears slid down her cheeks and onto his.

[Nikolas Breyden]

It was hot. It was dry. It was dark. Why was it dark when it was so hot? Why was his bed so hard? Why was he tangled up in something? What was touching him? And what the hell was that smell? Zombies…The memory of his day flooded back into his mind and his eyes flew open. It was still pitch black. He fought against whatever it was that he was tangled in and his head spun. He groaned and tried to push what he now knew to be hands off of him, but then he realized it was not a zombies hands. He felt the hands and followed them up to her arms. They were definitely not a zombie’s hands. There was another smell. A scent he knew all too well. It was Kris.

“Kris…” he croaked. His dry throat protested at the use of his vocal chords. His large hands clung to her arms with a weak grip. “I…I fell…zombies…” he leaned into her just to feel her close to him. “Scorpion…” he released her arm with the hand that had been stung and held it up even though he could not see it. He wondered why he couldn’t see it…was it night? It was too hot to be night. It wouldn’t be this hot at night until June…”Kris…I can’t see.” He felt panic rise up inside him, “I…I can’t see.” His grip tightened on her arm as fear engulfed him.

[kristhiana]

Kris almost jumped, startled by Nik's sudden movement, his hands grabbing hers and moving up her arms, she lifted her head and wiped her cheeks to hide the wetness from him, the last thing she wanted was for him to see her weakness.

His hands on her arms were unsteady,his grip feeble, she looked down at his face, noticing the paleness of his skin and the beads of perspiration that were forming on his forehead. She touched his cheek softly and was about to explain to him that yes he had fallen, but onto her head when he held his hand up and said scorpion.

She jolted as though stung herself, peered at the arm and groaned loudly.

"What the fuck Nik, why didn't you say so" she fumbled with the buckle of her belt, wanting to take it off to use as a tourniquet.

The way he said her name made her stop, he sounded panicked, confused, a tone she had never heard him use before since he was always so strong and confident.

"I can't see" he had said then in a even more panicked voice he said it again.

Her jaw fell open, the scorpion poison or the head wound, either way she needed to get him back to Haven asap.

"Nik" she spoke softly "Its alright, you just banged your head. You will be alright I promise"

She stroked his cheek softly and on impulse with her heart pounding and her hands shaking she bent down and kissed him on the cheek. A feeling of helplessness washed over her and she could have stayed sitting there with his head in her lap forever just lost in the despair and uselessness. But after a few deep breaths her military training took over and she slid herself out from under his head.

"I am going to get the horse" she pulled her belt free and put it high up his arm, looping the end through the buckle and pulling it tight "I will get you home in no time"

She removed the derringer from the back of her pants and slid it into his good hand "Its loaded, you wont need it but just in case"

She got to her feet and jogged back down the path, taking note of the darkening sky overhead, they wouldn't make it back in daylight but she had to get him there even in the dark.
She found the horse where she left him and picking up the reins led him back towards Nik. The horse snorted and shied as they neared the fallen zombies but she yanked on the reins hard and he quietened and stood quietly.

Kris ran back to Nik "I have to get you on the horse" she murmured as she bent down to try and haul him to his feet.

The horse whinnied suddenly and a unmistakeable noise made Kris right herself straight away, pulling the rifle free as she did so.

"Damn" she cursed "the blood is attracting them"

The horse screamed and bolted running the way it had come, through the zombies that were closing in on them.

Kris fired the rifle, hitting each zombie cleanly between the eyes. As the last one fell she screamed into the fast approaching night air "FUUUUUUUCK!"

She kicked a rock, a sharp pain jolted up her leg but she ignored it. She dropped to her knees beside Nik "Looks like we are spending the night Admiral"

She sighed, trying to think of the best way to keep the zombies from coming onto them in the darkness.

[Nikolas Breyden]

Oddly, or perhaps not oddly, Kris’s words calmed Niko. He just wanted to hear that he was going to be alright and that’s what she delivered. The kiss on the cheek helped him to relax with a bit of a sigh. He calmed down until she said she was going to go get the horse. “No…Kris…Don’t leave me here.” He rasped out but it seemed like she didn't hear him. With the gun in his hand he listened intently. “Kris?” he began to get nervous. He thought he heard a shuffling. “Kris??” he couldn’t hear a thing and every sound in the night sounded like a zombie. Suddenly he was sure he heard them. He aimed his gun toward the noise, “Kris??”

"I have to get you on the horse.”

She was back, “No listen.” He said but before he could tell her anything he heard gunfire. She must have seen them. That was good, her aim was always true. He was certain each shot was dead on.

"FUUUUUUUCK!" He heard the hoofbeats as the spooked horse ran off. Now they were screwed.

"Looks like we are spending the night Admiral" The thought filled him with even more fear but not for himself, for her. “No, Kris, go, leave me here. Haven needs you.” He croaked. “I’m probably dead anyway.” He lifted his hand that now felt like it was made of lead, he couldn't see it but it was turning blood red. “No antivenom.”

[kristhiana]

Kris shook her head despite him being unable to see her, she looked around formulating a plan.

"Nik" she spoke softly and reassuringly as she tightened the belt on his arm "Our best chance is to stay together, you know that. You also know that I need to build a baracade to keep the zombies out. We are safe on 3 sides hmmm"

She thought for a second "I will build a wall with the rocks and block the entrance, it doesn't need to be high, just high enough that the zombies can't step over, they won't be smart enough to pull it down and if they do we have 4 guns between us."

She looked down at his pale sweating face and her hand instinctively reached out and touched his cheek"The tourniquet is tight Nikolas, so tight it will probably kill off the nerves to your arm" she took a deep breath and swallowed "You may loose some if not all use of that arm but its the only way to stop any more poison reaching your heart. Don't worry Nik, they will come and find us, the watch will be here before you know it to take you home"

Her fingers trailed down his cheek and rested on his shoulder she squeezed it gently "Back in a minute, I will go make us safe"

She looked at his parched lips and cursed not having a water canteen with her. She couldn't get him a drink but she could help keep his energy up. She reached into her thigh pocket and pulled out a hard red sweet, his favourite when he had been injured when he was younger. She unwrapped it, the plastic wrapper making a distinctive crinkle noise.

"Here" she pressed the lolly to his lips "I know you like these" she popped it into his mouth.

Before he could comment on the lolly, or the fact that those exact same lollies used to appear on his pillow starting when he had been injured, or to ask how she had known that he liked them, she stood and jogged across to the most narrow part of the canyon. She started lifting big rocks and throwing them in a pile, gradually filling the entire area and piling them higher and higher. It grew dark, but she still piled them higher, grunting with the effort as she grew tired and her muscle fatigued.

When the entire entrance was at least 5ft high she stumbled over and fell sitting on the ground beside Nik. She groaned and pulled all of the weapons from their holsters, placing them beside her.

"Nik" she said softly "Please be ok, I want you to be ok. I don't want to live without you Nik"

Her fingers stroked his cheek and pushed his hair from his sweaty forehead, she bent her head and kissed him gently on the lips.

[Nikolas Breyden]

Niko felt like he was trying to breathe through water, his muscles were cramping painfully and his heart was pounding like a hammer driving an nail unevenly. Sweat poured off his skin, precious moisture he could not afford to lose. He grimaced and groaned when she tightened the belt. He knew he had enough poison in his system that he could very well die, he didn't want any more escaping past the tourniquet. “Ok, it’s ok…I wasn’t…using that arm…anyway.” He said bravely and tried to crack a crooked smile. “Dustan, Justice…and Max…they will come. Just like you.” He sighed and let his head drop as he felt her fingers trail down his cheek. It was the most comforting thing he could have possibly felt at that moment.

“No, don’t go…!” he felt on the verge of panic again because he could not see her or any zombies. All he could hear were the sounds of rocks being stacked. “Kris?” he turned his ear so he could hear her moving around. “Kris please, be careful.” He pleaded. He felt like he was going to pass out when she suddenly returned. Then, the unexpected happened. That sound…it was a sweet being unwrapped. Like the ones he ate when he could get them. It could be anything though, he must be losing his mind.

He opened his mouth to protest at something being pushed into his mouth but the cherry treat caused moisture to flood his mouth, sour cherry, his favorite. Wait, where did she get this…? Now he knew it was her that put the sweets on his pillow when he was sick. It just made him love her even more.

His body trembled as he leaned into Kris’s hand. He needed her comfort. He tried to kiss her back but he only managed to weakly move his lips. “Cant live…out you…” he mumbled as he passed out again.

He didn't know how long it had been since he passed out but something had waked him. What was it? It was the sound of something walking. He was too weak to move, and he felt like he was getting no air into his lungs with each wheezing inhalation. His hand felt an arm laying over him and he grabbed it, knowing it was Kris and he needed to wake her.

“I found them.” A deep rich baritone voice that definitely belonged to Justice, called out. More voices called out and the sound of horses converging on them and familiar voices was truly a godsend.

[kristhiana]

Kris frowned and sat up, Nik had passed out and she had no idea what to do. She was only trained in basic field first aid and how to cut off a limb if required. She even had a spool of razor wire in her pocket in case the need ever arose. For a moment she contemplated if this was the best option with Nik's arm, she checked the tourniquet but didn't dare tighten it anymore. The entire arm felt hot and was puffy, it seemed to throb beneath her touch like it had a pulse and a life of its own.

She sighed and sat watching in the direction of her makeshift baracade. She heard a noise and jumped, grabbing up one of the hand guns and aiming it at the baracade. In the dark she couldn't see what it was and she cursed the moonless night. She stood slowly and walked towards the piled rocks, she hugged the wall of the canyon as she edged around. When she reached the rock baracade she paused to listen.

Holding her breath she waited for the noise, when she finally heard it again it was not the typical shuffle of a zombie on the other side, but the snort and stomp from the run away horse. "You better be there in the morning" she warned and started heading back to where Nik was still unconscience on the ground.

A sudden noise followed by the galloping hoofbeats of the horse made Kris spin around and glare at the wall "You good for nothing useless beast, you will be dog food if I ever get my hands on you"

She returned to sit next to Nik, she took his good hand and held it in her own as she looked out at the darkness but there was no further noises to break the silence. After an hour, or maybe it was many hours as she had no way to tell, even the stars were aloof behind the thin layer of cloud, she decided that she needed to rest if she was going to carry Nik out in the morning. She lay beside him and closed her eyes and with practiced skill fell instantly asleep.

It wasn't quite daylight when she heard the noise, a scrabble on the rocks, she peaked her left eye open to look at the dawning sky. She lay barely moving, her hand gripping around the gun at her side, her other arm was sprawled across Nik's chest but she didn't dare move it and give away that she was awake.

She heard a voice, it could be familiar but without hearing more she couldn't be sure. She sensed someone moving close to them and standing over them and she still didn't move. As the person squatted down on the opposite side of Nik she sprang, the pistol at the man's temple before her heart had beat another thump in her chest.

She pulled back the hammer as her sleep bleary eyes focussed on the man beside Nik "Don't move" she hissed "Or I will blow your brains out"

She took a deep breath and looked around at the other two soldiers frozen by the canyon wall, hands up in signal that they had no weapons.

"Kris" a familiar husky voice said "Its me, Justice"

A slow smile spread across her face. She lowered the hammer on the pistol and launched throwing her arms around her friend and nearly knocking him backwards as they both stood.

"I could have blown you away you fool" she scolded with a laugh "Don't ever sneak up on me like that,especially when i am guarding the Admiral. "

She turned and dropped to her knees beside Nik again "We are going home now Nik" she cupped his face in both of her hands "Just hang on a little longer"

She looked over at the worried face of Justice who knelt on the otherside of Nik "Scorpion sting" she explained "Its been a long time but he needs the anti-venom now, before we can move him"

Justice nodded and got up to check if there was any in the first aid kit.

Kris smiled down at Nik, she bent down and kissed him gently on his cracked lips.

"AHEM" Justice cleared his throat as he knelt down beside Nik "This will sting a bit"

Kris watched as the syringe pressed into Nik's vein. Once the vial was empty she reached over and undid the tourniquet from around his other arm watching as the purplish tinge to the flaming red seemed to disappear almost immediately.

She looked up at Justice who again just shrugged and walked away. She scooted around behind Nik and lifting his head she layed it in her lap. She gently stroked his forehead "You will feel better soon I promise, they are just making a litter to carry you, it won't be long"

[Nikolas Breyden]

Niko wasn't quite sure what to think when he heard Justice's voice. It seems impossible that he was even there it also seems possible that Chris just might kill him. He wondered if he was hallucinating,was Justice really a zombie? Was Kris going to kill him? Was he even Justice? These questions he could not wrap his mind around because the fever that he had developed in the night had him wondering about his own sanity.

He felt like he did when he was a child and had a fever from the werewolf attack. Everything seemed like it was going in slow motion. Everyone's voices seemed three octaves to low as if they were speaking on a record that was playing too slow. It occurred that there might be a conspiracy against him by putting poison in to him rather than the antivenom. He thought about fighting, but then he thought that if he did they would just overpower him and if he was going to get away he needed them to think that he thought they were still on his side.

He eyed kris suspiciously. He was not going to fall for her affections. He knew she hated him. She had always wanted his father for herself because she didn't have one. And so she had taken him. And now she had her sights set on Haven. Did they think he was stupid? Did they think he was so out of it that he did not see their greeting.

Of course it was going to hurt a little bit. She had already broken his heart, It was as they had planned it all along. Break him as a man and take away everything that meant anything to him. It had to be poison thatvthey injected into him because if they going to save his life they would have given him water. He saw Kris's gun lying where she had placed it long enough to take off the tourniquet. With his head in her lap, He could easily take it. The smellfrom the zombie bodies lying nearby made its way to his nostrils. In his feverish state his mind rationalized that they were all zombies in a conspiracy against him to kill him and steal Haven.

How a man that sick could move that fast will always be a mystery, But Niko suddenly sat up and grabbed the gun with his good hand and spun around on Kris and the rest of the Havenites who had come to rescue him. No, these were not his friends. Kris would never do this to him. He pointed the gun at her, "Who are you what have you done with her." At the sight of Justice spinning around to face him he swung the gun in his direction "Don't move," he croaked. Hey the gun back and forth between the two of them. " Why are you trying to kill me?":he demanded. " Where is Kris? I want her now!" His throat was so dry he barely made it sound but his words what clear.

[kristhiana]

Kris froze as Nik waved the gun at her, her face crinkled into a frown and she took slow even breaths, her instinct was to run to him to tell him it was alright but in his current state of mind she wasn't entirely she he wouldn't just shoot without realising it was her.

"Sir" Justice started but Kris raised her hand to stop him.

She stepped forward slowly and didn't flinch when the gun returned to point at her "Nik its me" she spoke slow and calm "I am here, right here"

With a almost unperceptive twitch of her finger by her side she gave the men the signal to fall back to safety. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Justice shake his head the movement drawing Nik's attention and the gun spun once more around to point at Justice. Kris rolled her eyes and shot Justice a look that clearly said he would be answering to her about his failing to follow a command.

She needed Nik's focus back on her so that Justice could get safely away. There was less chance of her getting shot than Justice. She stepped forward again and held her hand out as though settling a horse or a crazed dog.

"Nik its me, look Nik its me Kris" she spoke softly and calmly despite the way her heart hammered in her chest.

When Nik was looking at her again she gave Justice the signal to fall back and he did, slowly stepping back one small step at a time.

She took another step and the gun was now almost touching her stomach "Nik I promise you that no one is trying to kill you. I promise. Now lets go back home and get your hand looked at"

The wildness in his eyes and the confusion on his face made her uneasy and she needed to get the gun from him but that wasn't something she could wrestle from him since he was extremely well trained even with the pain he was in.

"Nik" she spoke more firmly "Put the gun down before someone gets hurt" she took one more step so that the gun was pressed hard against her stomach.

"Nik, I am not going to hurt you I don't want to kill you, please believe me" she raised her hand as if to touch his cheek "you are not well, the scorpion bite is effecting you. Nik please I love you" her hand fell away and she felt tears start to sting her eyes"

[Nikolas Breyden]

Nik’s vision was compromised. It was a sort of swirling tunnel vision and while he could make out objects if they were lying still, any movement sent colors spinning and shimmering. Any movement was enough for him to swing the gun in the direction of the mess of swirling color. His breathing was rapid and labored from the scorpion sting and each time he swung the gun he became dizzy enough to have to struggle to stay on his feet.

The man moved. Nik pointed the gun at him, but then the woman moved. Nik pointed the gun at her. “You can’t be…she…she would give me water.” He reasoned in argument to her claim to be Kris and tried to focus on the twisted mass that represented her face. He shook his head slightly then swallowed back the bile that threatened to heave from his gut from the sickening dizziness caused by the concussion he acquired from being struck in the head, hitting it on the rock face, then falling on it.

The woman was getting closer and closer. As she did, the twisted features smoothed somewhat even whilst they were swirling. He squinted in an effort to see her. The voice was right. “Kris?” He felt her body push against his gun. He looked hard, “Kris…” he murmured upon recognition, “I’m so happy to see you.” His grip relaxed on the handle of the gun and he dropped it. The moment the butt of the gun hit the ground, it went off and shot him clean through his calf. He fell to his knees and turned his head toward the sky, realizing what just happened. He screwed up his face in misunderstanding and furrowed his brow. “Really?” he said just before face planting and passing out once again.

[kristhiana]

Kris ducked when the gun went off, she didn't see the bullet hit him but rather felt the spray of hot blood across her own legs a moment before Nik fell to his knees. Kris frowned then as he toppled forward she tried to grab him but he was far too big for her to be able to stop his momentum, all she managed was to slow his decent.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCK he is hit" she screamed as Justice and the others came running

She fell on her knees beside him, rolling him over onto his back, the blood had already soaked through his pants .

"Holy shit General you shot him" Justice skidded to a halt beside her.

*Shut the fuck up Justice" she hissed "Get me a friggin horse and get it now before I shoot you in the head, you got it?"

As Justice turned and stalked away she quickly wiped the sand from Nik's face, feeling a soft exhale of air against her hand. At least he was still breathing. She moved to his legs, grabbing his pants where the bullet had torn through she grasped the material and tugged, tearing the material. Nik groaned and thrashed a little at the jerking of his leg.

"Sorry Admiral" she muttered as she looked at the wound, it was bleeding freely but appeared to be a through shot with a larger wound at the back of the calf muscle. She pulled her top off over her head and tore it into shreds, bandaging the wound tightly.

She stood as the sound of hoof prints sounded behind her, as she turned she caught Justice's grin. Justice whistled low as he stopped in front of her.

"Well now General you should have told me if you were feelin frisky" Justice drawled in an exaggerated tone.

Kris made a fist and aimed it at Justice's face. Expecting such a reaction he ducked his head and she narrowly missed.

"Well now that was just plain uncalled for" he grinned.

Kris shook her head in disbelief and her temper subsided just a notch. Still shaking her head she mounted the horse.

"Pass him up to me" she ordered "I need to get him to Haven asap" she grinned at Justice "And it appears that you have a long walk home Commander"

Justice muttered under his breath and he hoisted the Admiral up and lay him over the front of the saddle. She touched Nik's face just once before kicking the horse into a gallop. She jumped the stone wall she had built and was racing across the wasteland towards Haven.

She didn't slow as they approached the gates of the city, the horse blew hard and was starting to falter in its steps from carrying the two riders but she spurred it on even faster. With a slip of hooves she raced through the gates before they were barely opened wide enough. Through the streets, pushing past the people without a thought for their safety. At the front of the Admiral's rooms she dismounted.

"Get a medic" she screamed as she slowly slid from the horse.

She pulled Nik down into her arms "I have you home, you are safe now" she whispered "I won't leave you I promise"

She staggered slightly beneath his weight but refused to hand him over to those who were milling around. She carried him through the doorway of his quarters and gently lay him on the bed just as the medic bustled in, ordering everyone to leave.

Kris stood firm "I shall not leave" she glared at the medic just daring him to send her away. The Medic held her gaze before finally nodded and she sat beside the bed, her face a mask of concern.

[Nikolas Breyden]

Niko was aware of it being very, very cold and very, very dark and very, very quiet. He heard a shuffling and then a deep voice whisper, “He’s coming to.” Then a sharp thud, an “oof” and then a feminine voice whisper sharply, “Shut your pie hole or I’ll shut it for you.” Then “God Damn woman, you beat on me so much you’d think I was your husband.” Then he heard a quiet struggle as someone was being shoved away, “Alright, alright! I’m going.” The man whispered then seemed to be gone.

Niko began to shiver. He wondered where he was. His arm hurt, his eyes hurt, his leg hurt, hell, his whole body hurt. He felt like he was on fire and freezing at the same time. Perspiration beaded down his face and chest. “Kris?” he mumbled. He felt something on his face and reached for it. Suddenly masculine hands grabbed his hand and pulled it away gently. “Don’t touch that Admiral, if you want to see again.” He recognized the voice as one of the new young healers that just defected from the city. He breathed a long sigh, “Where’s Kris? Am I home? Did she make it?” He didn’t remember much of what happened, only zombies and being stung and hanging upside down. “Kris?” he called out. He tried to struggle but he was in too much pain. “Sir, she’s fine, please be still, you have second degree burns and you lost a lot of blood, not to mention your head injury and the scorpion sting. We don’t have any more ice so you need to stop struggling and let it cool you down.” The medic pleaded. “Ma’am, can you help me?”

[kristhiana]

Kris was bustled back by the medic and she stepped away from Nik's bed. As she stepped back she noticed the medic staring at her, she looked down and noticed she wore no top, but just her bra. Frowning she turned and opened the closest cupboard, found a clean shirt and pulled it on, buttoning it up. When she turned around the medic was busy at work applying a clean bandage to Nik's calf muscle.

She pulled a chair around to sit beside Nik's bed, but once again the medic bustled her back. She was getting frustrated and annoyed but knew the medic was busy and didn't want to distract him with an argument, The medic worked and worked, cleaning and applying salves from all the scrapes and cuts and putting a poultice on the scorpion sting. Kris closed her eyes for just a moment, yawned and fell asleep.

When she woke it was to the sound of Justice clomping through the door "Damn those blisters" he complained

Kris frowned and held a finger up to her lips in indication for him to be quiet. Justice stepped closer, took a look at the medic who was lancing the swelling on Nik's hand with a blade and turned to Kris a shade or two paler than usual.

"I guess we stay out of the way and wait" he plonked on the floor beside Kris with a sigh.

Kris nodded and watched as the medic indicated someone by the door and whispering low asked for all the ice in the city to be brought.

"What's wrong?" Kris jumped up and rushed to Nik's side, her hand brushing aside the hair that clung to his damp face "Christ" she exclaimed "He is burning up"

The medic nodded "If we don't get his temperature down quickly he will be dead by day break"

Kris spun around and glared at Justice who shrugged and muttered "4 hours away*

The medic bustled Kris back out of the way and all she could do was watch as bag after bag of ice was poured around Nik's body. Kris collapsed back into the chair with a groan, she lifted her finger to her lips and started chewing a nail.

The dawn light was filtering into the room when Kris was startled from her worry by Justice, who had been pacing the floor much to Kris's annoyance. Kris jumped up to check Nik but Justice was in the way grinning at her.

Kris smiled back then sucker punched him in the stomach. Justice let out the air in his lungs in a loud 'oomph' and went to say some smart remark.

Kris hissed in his face, her nose almost touching his “Shut your pie hole or I’ll shut it for you.”

Justice grinned and stepped back from her "“God Damn woman, you beat on me so much you’d think I was your husband.”

Kris swung another punch at Justice who stepped out of the way "Alright, alright! I’m going.” he whispered with a shrug.

Kris watched him walk out the door, and as the door closed she heard a thump as he sat on the floor and leaned his back against the door ensuring nothing could happen without him knowing. Kris smiled, as much as Justice was a pain in the ass at times, he was genuinely a good guy.

Kris tried to get close enough to see Nik but the medic frowned, his finger pointing back at her chair in a a order that she couldn't argue with.

When Nik mumbled her name she stood and rushed towards the bed. The medic turned away fromNik and put his hand up to stop her, he shook his head and mouthed the words 'not yet'.

The medic's hands flew over him,checking temperature and pulse, respiration rate and for any pain. She saw movement, and strained to see and then the medic was telling him to stop pulling the makeshift patches from his eyes. When she heard himsigh and ask where she was she went to stand again, but the medic's head spun around and glared at her.

The medic tried to explain what had happened, what was wrong, but Nik seemed to thrash around even more, as though trying to get away from the ice around him. When the medic finally asked her to help she burst out of the chair and rushed to his side. She scooped his good hand up in hers, and her hand touched his face.

"Nik, Nik, lay still, please lay still. You are very sick" she bent down and kissed his forehead and noticing that he still felt warm but was a little cooler than earlier "Please Nik, I know the ice is cold but you need to lay still."

She stroked his face gently and looked up to the medic who smiled briefly and nodded his head. Kris smiled a thank you at him and looked back down to Nik.

"I thought I had lost you, I really thought I had lost you" she lifted his good hand and rested it against her cheek where her tears traced lines down her face "don't ever scare me like that again"

[Nikolas Breyden]

Nik could feel the ice under the light sheet he was lying on. This was obviously why it was so cold. It got cold in the Nevada desert sometimes in the winter but it was the start of summer so it didnt make since to him that it was cold until he heard them talk about ice. "But the ice is for the children..." he protested but stopped struggling. He sighed and relaxed into the bed.

He felt Kris's hand on him and sighed, leaning his cheek into her hand. "Kris..the ice is for the children." he repeated. He tried weakly to grip her hand. "Are we home? Did everyone get back? Is everyone...Lose me? Not today...uuuhg" he took a shakey breath as the room spun, "oh Jesus..." he swore the old curse that was no longer taboo since God abandoned the world. His stomach lurched and he struggled to roll to his side and dry heaved. He had nothing to vomit in his stomach. He groaned as he was helped to roll back onto his back and winced as his burned skin lay back on the ice. "Thirsty..." he croaked.

[i}"Where are they?{/i} he heard the medic whisper sharply.

He heard a commotion outside. "It's about time boys...you look like hell, go get some water." He heard Justice deep voice carry inside. "Kris, we got the antibiotics and saline, looks like Max came through, look, an analgesic" He lifted his hand to the bandages on his eyes to try to see the big man but once again his hand was slapped away. "

"Medicine...for the children..." he murmured. "Kris, the children come first."

"Don't worry partner, he brought cases of the stuff, this is just for you." Justice voice came and he could hear something being passed from one persons hand to another. 'I'll be outside." the heavy footsteps faded and he heard his door open and close. Before he could protest, he felt a needle in his arm then a cool sensation travel up his arm. "This saline is going to save your life Admiral." he could hear the relief in the medic's voice.

[kristhiana]

Kris held his hand firmly, she wanted to squeeze harder, as if by her might she would be able to make him better. She was shocked at how feebly he held her hand, as if for the first time it really dawned on her that he was just human after all and not made of iron or steel and completely untouchable like she had always thought.

"Its ok" she murmured softly, "you need the ice, your burning up" she reached for the cloth that was soaking in a small dish by the beside. Her hands bumped the ice cubes that were floating in the water, keeping the water cool despite the warm of the room temperature. She wrung out the cloth with her free hand, squeezing most of the water from it as much as she could without letting go of his hand. Dripping a few drops of water over the pillow she dabbed gently at his forehead with the cloth.

She heard a croak from Nik and looked up at the medic who shook his head but indicated a cup of ice cubes with a distracted scowl. She lay the cloth across his forehead and chased the cubes around the glass with her fingers, just as she was about to curse her fingers closed around one of the slippery cubes and she lifted it from the glass.

"You can't drink just yet, suck on this it will help" she rubbed the ice over his lips and when they parted slightly she popped the fast melting cube into his mouth. "Its not much but the medic doesn't want you vomiting anymore. But you can have all the ice you want"

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand a little. 'Where the fuck were they with the antibiotics?' she angrily thought 'surely it doesn't take this long.' she cursed herself for not going, she could have been so much faster on her own. But without a word Justice had sent others, others who had not been out in the desert with them, others with supposed fresh legs. She grimaced and decided that she would add some more running to the training schedule because it should not take this long to run to the city and back.

As though reading her mind the medic answered her thought by voicing his frustration at the time it was taking. She wanted to huff and rant and storm out but the hot clammy hand in hers kept her stationary, each second that ticked by feeling like it was hours of waiting.

Finally she heard Justice's deep rumble and smiled. She spotted Nik about to tug at his eye bandages and slapped his hand away, he had been told to leave them and she reacted as though he were a child about to steal from the cookie jar.

Nik's croaking voice brought tears fresh to her eyes, she struggled for words as she wiped her cheeks with her free hand. She swallowed hard and angrily scrubbed at her face. Laying there dying he was still worried about the children, was he really a hero or just being stubborn.

Before she could compose herself to answer Justice's deep voice was answering cheerful and confidently. She mouthed the words 'thank you' and he nodded, tipping the brim of his hat to her as he turned and walked out the door.

By the time she looked up, the medic had already set up the saline bag and was pushing the needle into Nik's arm. She smiled at the medic, who smiled back, the perspiration on his forehead running down his face. She squeezed Nik's hand once again as the doctor opened the tap and started looking for somewhere to hang the saline bag. Not finding anywhere he settled for hanging it on the bed head. He then grabbed the syringes he had laid aside he injected the antibiotics first and then the strong painkiller.

With a small nod to Kris he walked to the other side of the room and sat down in a half broken arm chair. Kris smiled back and half shook her head, wondering why someone as important in Haven as the admiral, couldn't have half decent furniture. Kris didn't have a room, she had been offered one of course but had refused, declaring that the comradeship of the bunk rooms made it easier to keep track of what was happening with the troops. Justice had his own rooms, it wasn't suprising that she often saw different women leaving them in the early hours of the morning.

She stroked Nik's cheek "Try and rest, let the antibiotics do their thing, I will be here I promise"

She sat down again, watching his breathing and the way his pulse seemed to jump in this neck. She was tired, exhausted actually, but fought to stay awake, especially as the soft snoring noise of the medic seemed to fill the room like a freight train.

In an effort to stay awake she spoke softly of everything and nothing. She told him how she had found him, how she had built the wall of rocks to keep the zombies out, how she had raced across the desert nearly killing the horse to get him back home. She spoke of everything but her feeling, of the storm that was raging in her mind. She was a soldier, not just any soldier but the best, and soldiers didnt have feelings, they had wants, they had needs but never emotions. So what was all this caring, this want to nurture and protect him, she didn't understand it.

When everything was quiet and she was sure he was asleep she whispered "You frightened me, I thought you would die and then I would have nothing to live for. My whole life, all my training, all of my everything has always been focussed on you. The first time your father sent me to the city, I was alone, I was barely old enough to to leave the compound alone and he sent me to bring you back sweets. Not just any sweets but cherry sweets." she fished in her pockets and pulled out the rest she had taken for him, she put them on the beside table with a smile "He might have sent me the first time but once I saw how much you liked them, I couldn't help myself, especially as you were so hurt, your father told me to stop, he ordered me to, and so I started hiding them under your pillow, do you remember?"

She didn't expect an answer and kept talking, talking "But for all of that, I hated you with a passion, you had everything I wanted. Not just position but a father, someone who loved you and cared about you. I had nothing. I had someone who ordered me around, told me what to do, my adoptive family never really cared for me, I was so jealous of you, I really was"

She yawned again and felt her eyelids growing heavy. Suddenly a hand clamped down on her shoulder and she jumped emitting a small squeak. She looked up into Justice's grin.

"Go sleep before you bore him any further with that poffle" he was grinning and Kris blushed and shook her head. "Stubborn bitch" Justice grinned and Kris slugged him softly in the arm with all the energy she could muster.

"I can bore him to tears so scoot" Justice urged again dragging her from the chair and sliding into it before she could protest. Reluctantly she let go of Nik's hand but with a glare at Justice she walked to the end of the bed and crawled onto the end of it, throwing an arm over his feet and falling almost instantly asleep.

"love you" she murmered sleepily

She frowned when out of the darkness Justice's deep voice answered "Of course you do hun"

She was so tired she couldn't protest and fell asleep only to dream of zombies and giant scorpions.