~The Anchors, Chapter 3: Confusion~

          The rain stops. The sky clears. The sun shines so bright and hot. The whole group is weary and tired from the battle they just fought. While a few of them give in to that tiredness and rest in the vans, a few decide to scout the area. Joseph takes Ajax, and Minte takes Tank. Along with Nick, Tray, and Justice, they walk around the corner. It seems as if the battle had brought every zombie in that part of town to them. The battle on Elm Street, as they decided to call it, had been easier than they had thought. It still exhausted them. They need food and water. After checking and clearing the two adjacent streets, the small scouting group decides to head back. As they approach the van, they hear a small commotion. It seems silent but then every few seconds people are talking all at once. They run up to see what's happening and they intrude on a game of silent football.

          Nick wakes and checks his watch. About nine hours had past. He looks around the van and everyone is still sleeping, which makes him drousier. As his conscience clears and he dozes off, he does hear a scream, but it was too late. Nick was asleep.

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           People shake him. He opens his eyes and his vision is fuzzy. It is clearly the morning. Nick looks up and Joseph is saying something that he couldn't quite process yet. "And so they shot him!" he hears Joseph say.
           Nick looks out the window and then opens the door and crawls out. Minte and Steven are laying on their backs on the concrete ground staring at the sky. Minte's German Shepherd is laying next to him.
           "What happened?" Nick asked.
           "@&*% happened." Steven responded.
           Nick looks around and sees a unicycle lying on the ground. "Campell turned." Minte finally said.
           "Man I'm s-"
           "Don't worry about it. I knew it would happen to someone, sometime." Minte interupted.

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           The day was weird. It had been two days since the Battle at Elm Street and they are still in the same place and have not made any progress from there. Campell's incident had created a mood of the whole group. They have to keep on moving. Nick looks up and sees a billboard. How did he miss it before?? 30 Seconds to Mars at the American Airlines Center



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         I run on the stage. Lights are beaming at me. I'm used to it. I'm going through the motions. Thousands of screaming Texans are standing in front of me, worshipping me. 
        "A warning to the people, the good and the evil, this is war."
        I'm singing a song that I wrote, my brother is playing the drums. I'm living my dream. Why am I empty?
        "To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim, this is war."
       This is the life I've always wanted. I didn't realize that I'd have to put a smile on my face, wherever I go, even if I don't want to. 
         "It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie, the moment to live and the moment to die. The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight!"
        What is the crowd doing? They are acting like they are in an actual war. This song is a metaphor. I don't think they get it. 
          "To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death! To the edge of the earth. It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!"
         Oh no. I see it. A small instrumental before the second verse. I have to get out of here. Backstage. There's nobody back here. A door! I have to get to it. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. I hear the back track. "The leader, the pariah, the victor, the messiah. This is-" War. 

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        Jack is driving. The highway is crazy. It is so hard to get anywhere when cars are just left in the middle of the streets. He finally turns into Parkland Hospital. The group vote to come to this place had left him scared, because this is wear the sick people will be. They all get out of the cars. In the Tahoe, the windows are left down for Ajax and Tank. Joseph has two revolvers at his side and a katana on his back. Nick has one of his own guns from back home. Minte has a razor sharp knuckle system on his hands, and they expect to get information from doctors, who are apperently probably still alive, hiding in the hospital.
         Steven and Tray carefully open the doors. They peek inside and the lights are on. They shuffle into the lobby because they see that it is clear. They group and ask eachother what to do when they hear, "Hi! Can I help you? If you are turned, please exit through the exit door. We do not serve the undead here! If you are alive, you may press the passcode '2572' into the door to unlock it."
An intercom. They are genious.
         Joseph types in the passcode and opens the door. A very large room of people, Joseph guesses that they are waiting on something, are sitting on the floor. Alex and Jack walk to the front desk. An old woman wearing a name tag that says, "Hi! My name is _SALLY_" looks at them and says, "Hi! My name is SALLY" and says it in such a way you would have thought she is just reading her nametag. Alex and Jack intoduce themselves to her and ask her if they could see a doctor. They wanted to learn important first aid, and hopefully get some handy gadgets or tools.
        "How about we put you on the waitlist." She replies. "It is about an eight hour wait. Is that alright?" She says in her kindergarten teacher voice.
        Jack agrees that the wait is alright, and they go and sit on the floor next to the rest of the group.
     
       Cole wakes up to screaming. Maybe it's just in his mind, because the room is silent. The rest of the group is asleep as far as he can tell. The power went off. The lights are pitch black. He feels a hand around his mouth and a jab in his neck and he's out.