Boston, Massachusetts 11:21 am
Almost 3 hours after the fall of Boston

The bald man's eyes widened as he looks at John kneeling by his front door. He notices the red stained cloth on his shoulder and the worried look on his face. "Jesus Christ it's you John. Quickly help him inside while I distract the biters" The man says in his thick Irish accent as he raises his shotgun at the approaching crowd. The girls jumped at each loud gunshot as they grabbed their coughing father by the arm and helped him into the house. Once inside the man quickly closes the door and barricades it with a built-in barrier.

"Put him on the couch. Oi Candice! Bring me the first aid kit quick!" he shouts while pointing at a black leather couch in the next room. 

As the sisters rested their father on the couch, a beautiful woman with crimson red hair tied to a military style knot rushed carrying a small green pack with a red cross on the center. She wore camouflage pants and a dark green, long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A necklace with a 5,56mm bullet dangled around her neck as she rushed in, her dark blue eyes lighting up as she sees John. "Oh my god John what happened?" She cries out as she kneels beside him and opens the first aid kit. John grunts in pain as she carefully removed the cloth, exposing a rather nasty bite mark on his shoulder. Excessive amount of blood exited the wound, causing Stacy and Rebecca to look away in disgust. 

Noticing that Jack gets up and approaches the two daughters, still hesitant about the current situation, and takes them to the kitchen. After they sat down he presented them each a steaming mug. After nipping from the mug and confirming it is simply tea did the man finally begin to talk.

"You two must be all shaken up. You probably don't remember me, and I don't blame ye. It's been almost, I'd say, fifteen years since I've seen you two? I'm not sure. My name is Jack Bridger the gorgeous red head tending to your father is my wife Candice. I used to serve alongside your father before he left the Corps and joined the Police Department."

The sister's eyes widen and they look at each other while still nipping on their coffee. "So you do remember me" he says as a small smile forms across Jack's face as he too sits down and leans back. 

"Barely, but I do remember you from Dad's stories and the- "

"Will he be ok?" Interrupted Rebecca with a look of concern on her face. Stacy looked at her and then at Jack with the same look. His smile vanished and the brightness in his eyes dimmed as he lets out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know. The bite looked pretty nasty but- "

"I was able to stop the bleeding and stitch his wound up. For now he'll be ok" Candice interrupted as she suddenly burst into the room. Immediately the two sisters placed their still steaming mugs on the dining table and ran to the living room where a still coughing John lied. Their smiles vanished though as they see how pale he has gotten and that his coughing has gotten worse.

"Hey John. Glad to see you are still in one piece Battle" Jack says with a smile. Heavy pounding continued to come from the locked door. Jack ignored that and grabbed the outstretched hand of his pale friend. Fresh bandages have been wrapped around his shoulder and an empty syringe lies by the open first aid kit.

"Like wise...Battle. How long has it been...since we last have...seen each other?"

"I'd say roughly five or six years" Jack says while trying to maintain the same smile.

"Why is that?" Stacy asks as she sits on the carpeted floor by her dad. Her sisters decided to do the same. 

"Ey Babe, could you continue loading the truck while I sit here with my injured friend?" Jack asks at still standing Candice who was wiping her hands with disinfected wipes. She nods and leaves the room.

"Well frankly it was because of the accident roughly five or six years ago. Your father decided to retire from the Corps. We did do our share of twenty years. He moved to Boston to assist you two while I remained for another four years until I retired. Decided to join the same police force your dad did. He caught wind of that and we were planning on catching up this weekend but instead the apocalypse occurred."

"So, if you don't mind me asking Jack, how did you and our father meet?" Rebecca asks. 

"That Rebecca, is a very long story. Yes, I do remember your name and yours as well Stacy" Jack says with a smile at Rebecca's surprised expression. "Any who your father and I have known each other since Boot Camp roughly twenty something years ago but we didn't become friends till much much later during our first deployment in 03."

"Why is that? I remember Dad speaking highly of you when he returned home from that deployment" Stacy says as she gives Jack and her father a quizzical look.

"Well, it's hard...to explain."

"Simply put, we just did not like each other from the start. The Drill Instructors knew that from the beginning and assigned us to each other. Made Boot Camp worse than it already was. But after Boot I was hoping I never have to see your Dad again."

"But instead...we got assigned to the...same unit."

"Pretty much a repeat at Boot Camp. Though this time we sort of competed against each other." 

"Best...PT test...score, best...at the range, etc."

"But then we got deployed to Afghanistan and decided to put our differences aside to make deployment not such a pain in the arse. We get sent out to this little village assist a convoy that got hit. We arrive just as the convoy gets attacked again and I get hit in the chest. It was horrible. Under heavy fire your father ran out and dragged me to safety, tended to my wounds as best as possible, and waited by my side till the rescue convoy arrived" Jack says while looking at John.

"Dad, did all that despite the hate between you two?"

"Yep. Despite...our rivalry we were still...brothers in arms. I couldn't...just leave him to die" John said before coughing again, heavier this time, and wiping away the blood. The pounding on the door became louder and pounding began coming from the large bay windows as dozens of shadows appeared behind the drawn curtains. The cracking of glass soon followed. Immediately everyone jumped up and looked at each other in shock.

"Ah fuck. Ey Candice I need you to hurry. Rebecca, Stacy, I need you two to help her out putting our stuff in the truck" Jack says as he grabs his shotgun that has been leaning against the wall. The two sisters look at their coughing father who slightly nods. Without muttering a word, they follow Candice out of the living room.

"So what happened to ye John? Who got the jump on you?" Jack asks, pointing at John's bandaged shoulder.

"We were...heading for an evac...at the Cambridge Side Galleria, but got separated...as the inside of the mall was...just as crowded as the outside. We were going through...a small maintenance hall to the exit...when I got jumped. I should have...looked behind me too. It was a rookie mistake. So what are you doing? Looks like...you are packing up to leave" John says, gasping for air while he was talking.

"Well the original plan was to lay low and wait for this shit fest to die down and then leave. But so far the streets are still too crowded to make a clean getaway. 

Suddenly the glass of the living room window began to break and several hands reached out through the curtain and loud moaning could be heard from behind the curtain. Jack was about to shoot when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see John standing by him, struggling to stand.

"What are ye doing John?"

"Jack, there isn't...much time. Go. Take my daughters...and keep them safe. I'll- " he began to cough again, then wiped the blood away from his mouth. "I'll buy you all some time."

"John, I can't just- "

"Look at me! I don't have much time" John says as he points at his extremely pale face. Jack lets out a very heavy sigh as he reaches back and hands John a loaded Glock 17 with an extra clip. John, with a tear rolling down his eye, nodded and gave Jack a firm hug. After a couple pats the glass shattered and several infected men and women fall into the living room. Immediately loud gunfire and moaning echoes through the house as Jack runs towards the door leading to the garage. He stops as the door opens and Rebecca stepping in, a scared look on her face. She jumped when as another gunshot went off.

"What is going on Jack?" she asks trying to peek over his shoulder.

"We need to go now" Jack said, seeing Candice and Stacy eyeing him through the open garage door. Cracking glass and moaning followed by the sound of squishing flesh echoes through the house. Rebecca was about to run to her father when Jack stops her and instead pushes her into the garage, closing the door behind him.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing?" she asks as she tries to break free from Jack's hold.

"He's buying us some time. We need to go" was his response.

"No no no we can't just leave him Dad!" shouted Rebecca, grunting as she continued trying to break free.

"You think I wanted to do this? I don't like it either" Jack shouted at Rebecca. He then motioned Stacy to stop as she took a few steps towards the door. More gunshots rang while Candice watched Jack, her hands balled to fist while she too continued giving her husband a quizzical look. "He's been bit. There's only a matter of time before he becomes one of the undead but he's using that time to allow us to leave. To get you and your sister to safety. Please. Don't let it be for nothing" Jack says, several tears rolling down his cheeks. 

Tears also fell from Rebecca's cheek as she took a few steps back and then without a word got into the black Hummer Sioux. Stacy did the same, gunshots still ringing through the house. 

Candice looks at Jack, Jack looks back at Candice and then they both entered the truck as the garage door opens with a loud screech. The dozens of infected turn towards the black truck and approach the truck with outstretched arms and gnashing teeth. Jack didn't hesitate and hits the gas pedal, speeding out of the garage and smashing into several undead before driving down the street. 

Rebecca and Stacy look back with tear filled eyes, the smashed window lighting up through the curtains with each gunshot. The crowd of undead and the flashing window disappear as Jack sharply turns left and speeds through the messy streets of Boston.