The great Mississippi River, the largest river in the now decimated country. Also a major strategic position during the spread of the infection, which many believed would hold off the inevitable spread by isolating the western half of the country. However, it did not work and the infection managed to jump the river and continue on unperturbed.



"Alright... hang on." Aaron got the needle ready while turning his head to Gus "Go find something to cauterise this with. You did an okay job before, but you've got to get right into the wound alright? You know the sort of thing that will help." Then, without warning, he pushed the needle into the puss filled wound, and began to draw out the yellow, foul smelling goo.

Thankfully the center of Max's wound was so dead from infection that when the needle met the flesh, she didn't jump. Max had gotten so used to "battle field" medicine that she'd expected Aaron to do what she would have done. Which was slice the thing open with a knife and push till it drained completely. Apparently her orders to have Dare and Gus hold her down were premature. "I don't suppose you have any antibiotics in that bag of yours do you?" She asked Aaron. Her calm voice would have been enough to tell Gus that it was ok to do as he asked since he wasn't hurting her.

"C-cauterise?!" Gus asked quickly, not even knowing the meaning of the word. When he needle went in, he almost gagged in his mouth. Closing his eyes tightly, he stayed where he was and flinched, aiming his face away from Max.

"He means something to burn with." Max told the boy, simplifying it for him. "I have a knife in my backpack. You remember. The red one?"

Gus sniffled some snot back into his nose and nodded. He got up and ran to Max's pack, thinking it was a life or death situation. After a moment, he ran back with the knife, probably not the best idea..but he got there just fine- "HERE!"

Dare looked over at Aaron, remaining where she was. "Do you have anything to heat it up with?" she asked quickly. They really did need to keep moving, and the faster they helped Max, the quicker they would be underway.

"There's cans of sterno in my pack." Max told them. "Use the one with the X scratched into the top. Don't waist a full one on me."

Aaron was no simple "field medic" though. He had tools for goodness sake. He continued to drain the puss, eventually having to squirt the contents out over the floor, away from everyone else. It stank to high heaven. He began to drain again, knowing that the more he drained the more sensitive it would become "Is the knife sturdy? I don't want to lose pieces in your shoulder."

"The knife is fine." She told Aaron, feeling the pressure as the needle slipped back in. "This would go quicker if you just opened it up a bit and squeezed. I'd rather deal with a little pain than lay here while zombies crowd in around us." She was feeling better though. Probably because she was finally laying down like Zep had told her to do.

"The amount of puss here, using that method would no doubt cause some puss to be trapped beneath the burns. I don't want to deal with septic burn tissue now. This is the best way to make sure it'll never come back." Aaron was impressed with this woman. She sure as hell didn't seem to mind pain. "So, tell me about yourself" he said, sounding actually a little chatty right now "Get my mind off the smell."

"Sorry about that." Max told him, not enjoying that ether. "And my story isn't particularly interesting." She looked at Dare and wiggled her foot. "You can stop holding my legs down till he gets the knife ready. That can't be comfortable."

"It'll be more interesting than mine" Aaron said, squirting some of the puss out again before going in for a bit more "It'll keep your mind occupied for that moment where I put the knife in. Just humour me for a bit."

"I'm a mechanic." Max said to satisfy him. "I was in the Army." But she stopped at that, wanting to keep her more recent history guarded. She didn't think these people would enjoy learning that she was an ex-con. Especially not until she received proper attention to her shoulder.

Dare stood to retrieve the items she would need to heat up the blade. She sat it the dirt, waiting for Aaron to finish with the blade in her hand.

Gus was with them, but he was huddled up on the grass about two feet away from Max. He hated this and seeing it only made the nothingness in his stomach churn and bubble. He felt as if he may very well throw up soon. It was like a fork was jabbing at his lower stomach and turning slowly at his insides. He places his hands there and stayed to himself, wincing as the pain came in waves.

"How's the knife coming Gus?" Aaron asked, pulling the needle out again and frowning. They'd started getting blood in the puss. Well, there was before, but now a bit more. That was good. It meant the puss was draining right down. He stuck it in again to get as much out as possible. No need to fool around with an ex-army member.

Max felt the needle meed flesh that time and winced. "What I wouldn't give for a bottle of peroxide..." she said idly.

Dare held out the knife to Aaron. She wanted this over, and he was the one to finish it.

"Well I have SOME stuff on me" Aaron admitted, taking the needle out once he was getting practically only blood "Gus? The knife?" he said, discharging the blood on the floor again.

Dare made a noise and put the knife in front of Aaron's face. He was so concentrated on Max's wound that he didn't realize she had the heated knife. "Here," she said, placing it in his hands before standing and moving to put things away. She unsheathed her own knife and went back to the raft, angrily drilling holes. If anyone paid attention, the anger made her work faster if anything. Dare really hated being ignored.

"Thank you" Aaron said, taking the knife and moving, without a single word, straight in. The flesh hissed and sizzled under the heat, the heated blade cooking the flesh and bits of left of pus instantly. It also made a smell somewhere between pork, burnt hair and... well, the kind of smell pus makes when it's connected with a super heated knife. There's no other real way to describe that.

(don't you think peroxide or something should have come before that?)
What Aaron was doing now was the entire reason Max had asked that they hold her down, so Aaron could do this right without her balking and jerking away. He didn't even give her time to bite down on the stick Gus had given her. At first when the blade slipped in she hadn't felt anything, the flesh in the wound had been to dead to sense any pain, but it only took a second for that to burn into the tender flesh neighboring it. Her entire spine arched, she jerked and out of the instinct of self preservation, tried to pull away.

Gus was a few feet away, sitting near the cart he was brought there in. He didn't want to be near Max right now. The entire process was making him physically ill and lightheaded...not to mention this stabbing pain in his lower abdomen. He wasn't sure what it was exactly. Extreme hunger or illness perhaps? Every so often, he would bend over and grab his gut, tensing up for a moment before it passed. When he heard Max writhing in pain, he winced and turned away, gripping tight at the cold bars of the shopping cart.

One arm slammed down on Max's chest at once, Aaron gritting his own teeth as he fought against her struggles and continued to burn the flesh until he finally pulled the blade free. He was used to having someone struggling as he tried to fix them, so he could hold her still for a bit. "There we go," he said with a sigh as he pulled the blade free and leant as far back from Max as he could, "That should keep you happy."

That would have been find and dandy if not for the entrance wound still needing to be cleaned. Max rolled onto her back, gasping in air and sweatting. There were tears in her eyes but she wasn't crying. Now that she had rolled over Aaron could see what he'd forgotten, the entrance wound, red and swollen, still needing attention.

Gus really wasn't feeling good. With Max's painful moans and shouts combined with the pain in his stomach and the flighty feeling in his head, the boy stumbled forward before wrenching the contents of his stomach. Any scraps he had eaten with the group were now soiled on the dirt, swimming in a sea of bile.

"Shit," Dare said under her breath as she stood and sheathed her knife, quickly going over to Gus. She had seen him get sick, and it could be any number of things. The boy looked weak, though. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she tried to get his attention. "Gus, do you want to go lay down?" she asked gently.

Gus spat anything left in his mouth onto the ground. The sick flavor wasn't going to go away anytime soon though. He looked pale and had small bags under his eyes. All this stress and physical labor for a boy who had a concussion, everything was finally taking it's toll. He looked up at Dare and nodded slowly, feeling like he may very well die soon.

"Feel free to pass out," Aaron said in disinterest as he began to search in his pack until he found a bottle of peroxide. He then found a sterile cotton pud, dipped it into the mixture, and began to slowly paint across the entrance wound like a patient artist finishing off his last few strokes.

"Two minuets ago you wanted my life story..." Max sighed, feeling the bubbles from the peroxide pop against her flesh.

"Well you refused, and the only way I know to get people to stop struggling is to hold them down, not an option, get them talking, which you refused, or let them pass out. You haven't given me many options here, have you?" Aaron said gently, applying the peroxide slowly, watching the bubbles pop and knowing that 'tingle' wasn't exactly what it did.

Dare took off her trench leaving her in the sheer shirt. Wrapping it around Gus, she carried him with some effort to the packs, wrapping him in her long coat so he could rest. He looked pale and sick, so she kept an eye on him for a minute.

Gus didn't argue when Dare carried him, "Is Max...going to be ok?" he asked. She had saved his life on more than one occasion and really was the first person to take care of him since his father died a month ago.

"Well I'm not quite ready to pass out just yet..." Max told him. She had a few moments earlier, but she was laying down now and the world wasn't so spinney. As Aaron dabbed the peroxide bits of dried blood and dead flesh peeled away. It revealed the scar from where Gus had mistakenly placed the flat of the blade against her skin to close the wound. It wasn't as green or bulging as the exit wound had been, but it could probably stand with being opened up and sealed properly.

"I think she'll be fine. Aaron knows what he's doing." Dare reached over and grabbed her pack, which would be softer with the added clothes inside, and tucked it under Gus's head as a pillow. "Besides, she's to ornery to stay down for long," she said jokingly. "And someone has to let us know when we're being lazy," she said with a wink.

Gus let out a tired, "Yea..." and closed his eyes for a moment, sniffling. His hand traveled down to his lower stomach and he tensed up "Ow... it hurts..."

"Hmmm..." Aaron said, sounding bothered as he gazed at the scar "This could be opened as well, get some proper sealing... But that might take time. We could just open them up and bandage the entire area, let your own body heal it up, but it'll hurt like hell. What do you say?" Gus really had been rather slapdash with this treatment.



"Open it, disinfect it, cauterize it." Max told Aaron. She was a fool to have tried and let a child play doctor to her bullet wound, but Gus had probably saved her life despite the infection. She wouldn't have gotten far without the means to staunch the bleeding and seal the wound.

"You're the boss lady," Aaron sighed, not wanted to get on the wrong side of the woman, "Dare! We'll need that knife again in a bit!" With that prepared he dug into his bag again and retrieved a small scalpel that had practically been swimming in a disinfectant. He whipped it slightly, getting rid of a layer of the stuff, then started to use it to open up the scar.

At first there wasn't any pain. The scalpel was sharp and the sharper the blade the less pain it'll cause. Then the blade penetrated the first layer of dermis and Max didn't jerk, but he could see in her eyes that she could feel the pain now.

Dare was tempted to tell Aaron to do it his own damn self, but she wouldn't raise her voice to people. It just wasn't in her nature. She instead reached down to brush some hair from Gus's forehead and looked at him. "Get some rest, okay? I'll be right back after I make sure Aaron's doing a good job on Max." Standing, she walked over to where Max and Aaron were, pushing the sleeves of her mostly see through shirt up as she readied the knife again.

Gus was scared. This stomach pain had come on so suddenly. It felt like a fork was jabbed in his gut and turning at his insides slowly like spaghetti. He curled up in the fetal position and shut his eyes tightly with only Max's pained grunts to flair up his worry agian.

"How is he?" Max asked seeing Dare approach. She could see Gus out of the corner of her eye but he didn't seem as if he wanted to have anything to do with her ordeal at the moment.

"He has a concussion," Dare said in such a way as to also say 'how do you think he's doing?". She didn't look up from the knife in her hands. "He should be okay with a little rest. I think he's just feeling sick." She had suffered the same ill effects when she had been hit in the head, but she had also had top notch medical support. 

"He's a good boy..." Max said softly. It was the kindest words she'd spoken since everyone had met. But Gus didn't deserve any of this. No child did. She winced as Aaron's scalpel penetrated the more sensitive tissues and spurt of blood squirted up between he and Dare.

"I'll look at him in a second. Something might be wrong," Aaron said, pulling back and looking over at Gus as he avoided the spurt of blood, "He looks more in pain than I like." He sighed, then looked down at the opened up scar, applying a bit more of his scalpel to make sure it was really opened. He then looked up at Dare and said gently "Thank you for the help Dare. I feel so useless when I can't walk around like this."

Not having paid enough attention, the spurt of blood hit Dare on the arm and face. She had the sense not to drop the hot knife. "Oh, gross!" She wiped at her face with the side of her arm, smearing the blood a bit. When Aaron addressed her, Dare looked at and gave him a hesitant smile. "No problem. I just hope I didn't get in the way too much." Despite being put off by everyone's attitudes, she was still predisposed to being nice.

"I guess I should thank the both of you." Max said, but she didn't exactly thank anyone.

"You were the perfect nurse." Aaron reassured her, taking the knife carefully in order to seal up the wounds again. He sighed gently, not taking as much time now, but still the smell was terrible.

Gus tensed up and shut his eyes tight, trying his best to go to sleep.

Dare gave Aaron a nod and smile, but stood to go back over to Gus. She sat down and wrapped the trench around him better, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. She was the only one who had been injured and received anything that could be called adequate medical attention. This made her one of the more capable in the group at the moment. Once she made sure Gus was settled, Dare went back to work on the raft, wanting to finish it before nightfall.

Max grabbed Aaron's arm out of reflex, but she didn't fight him. She knew it had to be done if she intended to take care of Gus. As the flesh sizzled and she grit her teeth to keep from crying out, her grip tightened on his forearm.

"Stop that." Aaron said gently, glancing over towards Max as he continued to seal up the wound. It was done after a few moments, and he removed the knife from her flesh. Perhaps some painkillers might have helped, but he couldn't waste them.

Max didn't, not till Aaron slipped the blade free. She couldn't help but feel as if there was an air of heartlessness about him. He'd gone about this whole thing with a cold indifference. He certainly had a poor bedside manner.

"You want a bandage?" Aaron asked, looking around at the pack he had with him and mentally counting out the number he had left "I think I can spare enough. Best we don't let you become infected again."

"If..." Max panted. "If you can spare it... I've got some in my pack... I'll replace what you use if you need it." The searing pain in her shoulder swam in an out as she felt the world waver in and out too. She was nearly ready to pass out after all this. She'd gone too long without taking care of herself to be strong enough to endure Aaron's cold brand of medicine.

"I can spare some." Aaron said gently, patting her belly gently as if trying to comfort her "You sleep. I'll give you a painkiller when you wake up. Can't have you passing out the entire time." He reached into his bag, got out some bandages and some cotton balls, and dipped the balls into a bit of peroxide to make sure the infection didn't come back at all, then started to bind up the wound carefully.

Of her own free will Max wouldn't have passed out at all. Once Aaron finished she would have hopped up, pushed Dare out of the way and taken over the task of raft building. But it wasn't really up to her. After their escape, the journey here, the trek across the beach searching for materials, and generally not taking care of herself; now that she was laying down, the best she could do was pass out like Aaron suggested. He saw her eyes swim out of focus for a moment and she was gone, leaving he, Dare and Gus to continue building the raft. As she passed out she promised herself that it would only be for a few minuets... there was too much work to do.

Hanson hobbled back towards the group with Zep in tow. "We didn't see anything." he said simply. He started to wonder what it was, then, that he had heard before heading off. He saw that Max had passed out, but looked as if the procedure was done. "How did it go?"

There was puss and blood all over the ground, the smell of burning flesh in the air and Max was passed out on the floor beside Aaron. "Well," he said, tying the bandage up, "Make sure she doesn't put any weight on this arm for a bit. She might insist she's strong, but the arm is a liability if it doesn't heal up well."

Zeppelin couldn't believe they were just leaving her on the ground like that. He stooped down and picked Max up gently, laying her head against his shoulder as he lifted her.

Gus tightened his grip on Dare's jacket over his shoulders. Whatever stinging he was feeling in his abdomen came in waves. He couldn't sleep...not with al this worry about Max and her wellbeing.

"Careful, her wounds are very fresh. Stick her in one of the wheelbarrows while we do a bit of work." Aaron told Zep, before looking over to Dare and Gus "I'm ready to have a look at the boy if you'd bring him over here." Doctor's work was never done.

Dare walked over to Aaron. "How about I bring you to him?" she asked, holding out a hand to help him up. "I really don't think he should hr moved all that much." She was already feeling somewhat protective of those severally injured, which wasn't a good thing in her book. People had a nasty tendency to die and leave you mourning them.

"If you can bring me, I'd be more than welcome to go to him," Aaron said, offering up his arms like a small child might do. He hoped there was nothing too seriously wrong with Gus... the death of children always seemed to upset people.

Dare took a firm grip of Aaron's hands and used all her weight to pull him up. Wrapping her arm around him and holding one of his hands to pull it around her shoulder, she let him lean on her, half carrying him to Gus. Once there, she let Aaron slide down and took a few steps, interlacing her fingers on her head as she walked and took a few breaths.

Zeppelin grumbled to Aaron, as if the man thought he didn't know how to carry a woman. He took Max off away from the group, it was clear that she was in need of some peace and quiet and they wouldn't find it right here. He sat down under the shade of a tree and rested his head back against it's trunk, holding the unconscious Max to his chest.

Gus heard people coming and opened his eyes. It was Dare and Aaron.... but no Max. He sat up and looked over to where they were working. She was no where to be seen. "Where is she?!" he asked loudly, fearing the worst and that they had gone off and gotten rid of her dead body. Gus started to hyperventilate and tear up.

Had Max been awake she likely never would have allowed any man to carry her like this. Long before the outbreak she'd learned to hate them. The Padre didn't count, he was a priest and therefore sexless in her opinion. Zep wasn't and therefor fell within the "I should hate you" category. But here he was, protectively cradling her as if she were some over grown infant relying on the closeness of someone else to sleep soundly.

"She's going for a lay down in the wheelbarrow. She deserves a rest." Aaron was looking pale; walking on shot up legs was not the best experience in the world. "Now, Gus, right? I need you to relax and tell me where it hurts, alright?" he tried a smile, but his flu mask was in the way, so it was just an awkward pause "I'm going to help the pain go away."

"Is Max going to be ok?" Gus asked through his tears, ignoring Aaron's question for now. He cared about her a lot...like a family member. They had been through hell and back these past few days and Max vowed to protect him.

Zep looked down at the slumbering Max and couldn't help but feel his heart beat a little faster. She looked so peaceful, it was so unlike Max, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Dare finally succeeded in regulating her breathing once more. Since no one had made a move to assist with the raft, Dare grumbled to herself and went back to it. She ran the rope around the contraption, connecting the floats, tarp, and wood securely together. At least the sections she could. Dare laced the rope through every hole she made, her arms growing tired as she went. Damn them all for not helping. Dare momentarily contemplated making a smallish raft and sailing away with just Aaron, the only person she felt a connection with, but she knew that was a stupid idea.

"She's going to be fine. I might need to give her some anti-biotics to fight the stuff in her system, but she'll be fine." Aaron told Gus patiently "But now I want you to tell me where it hurts alright? She'll be worried about you when she wakes up, and I want to make sure you're feeling better for her so you can look after one another."

"I....think it's starting to go away now. It's my stomach..." Gus said, sitting up slowly. "I threw up..." he confessed with an apologetic frown. To think, Gus had thought the effects of his concussion were gone.

"Now now... let me figure out what it is." Aaron said gently, placing a hand on Gus' stomach "Does it hurt when I do this?" He gently pressed down in the area of his appendix, wondering if that might be the cause.

"No?" Gus said, "Just pressure really..." he trailed off. Maybe he just had to poop?

"What about here?" Aaron shifted slightly, pressing a hand down on his stomach area. Appendix was out. Good. He didn't want to have to operate out here.

"No." Gus replied. His stomach sunk in when Aaron pressed down, completely empty and lacking form. He hadn't eaten a good meal in days...maybe weeks. "The pain went away now.... it was weird. Stingy like forks twisting my stomach like spaghetti."

"It might be a parasite..." Aaron said with a glare "Tapeworm, grown hungry. Have you eaten any badly prepared pork?" Them the stomach would hurt when he pressed on it, surely...

"What?!" Gus looked completely petrified at Aaron, "N-no! Nothing... oh my god, oh my god... I don't want to die." he was freaking out a bit.

"Shut up," Aaron snapped at the child quickly "I need you to think clearly. It won't kill you. Just hurt. And that's only if you've eaten any unprepared pork or chicken." He needed to stomp on any fears.

"Where would I have gotten meat?" Gus asked suddenly, no WAY it was a tapeworm. "It's not a parasite. It's not. I just had a belly ache. Maybe I'm hungry."

"Well that would make sense. Our food has been scarce lately." Aaron sighed and shook his head slowly "Maybe I should get a better look at you. Anywhere around here we can have some privacy?"

Hanson walked over to where Dare was working on the raft. "Do you need help?"

Gus lifted his shirt and showed Aaron his stomach and part of his chest. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. "I'm fine. No parasites."

Dare looked up and nodded. "Thanks, padre." She glanced over at Aaron and frowned deeply. "Aaron, he only has a concussion, and sometimes that means stomach cramps. Haven't you ever seen a concussion patient?" Dare had been a concussion patient, so she had some idea. "He needs low level pain killers and food." At least that was what they had given her.

"Pain killers can be the worse thing to give a concussion patient," Aaron corrected Dare "Specially those that thin the blood slightly. Messing with brain chemistry while it's already out of whack is a bad idea. Food, sure, he's badly undernourished anyway, but I'm going to keep an eye on him."

Gus looked back and forth between the two, then leaned back with Dare's jacket as a blanket. "I'm fine guys...thanks." he said, really not wanting parasites.

Muttering to herself, Dare turned back to the raft, making a face. She spotted Zep sitting cradling Max and her anger spiked slightly. "Sure, leave the girl who has no clue what she's doing and the priest to build a raft to get everyone across the river because the injured girl needs a pillow!" she shouted at him. She was past annoyed and was ready to just give up on the boat and swim for it.

Hanson placed his hand on Dare's shoulder, "You mustn't raise your voice like that. The noise could attract the undead or more goons if they are nearby."

Zep sighed and gently laid Max down on the ground. "You rest, Max. We can take care of things while you get some sleep." He whispered to her, not wanting to disturb her. He got to his feet and groaned as he headed towards the raft.

Max was vaguely aware of an aggravated voice and movement. After the exertion of the last two days and the infection that had built up in her system, Max would have wanted nothing more than to assist Dare. Mostly because she doubted a twig of a super model or a cloistered priest could effectively build a structure to take all of them across the water. But for now, independently of what her wishes would have been, her body heeded Aaron's advice to rest.

"Guys," Aaron said with a deep groan "Guys, we need people to do this, and Zep, you're up for it. Two people can't walk, Dare needs help and Gus is down for the count as well. Just put Max in the wheelbarrow and get working."

Watching as Zep took his sweet time getting to the raft, Dare rolled her eyes in disgust. She went back to stabbing holes and threading the line through, letting the other two worry about connecting the floats properly as she waterproofed the thing with the tarp.

"Ah- I can help." Gus raised his hand, slowly getting him from his spot in the grass. His upset stomach had subsided and he felt relatively fine now.

Several hours came and went as the group worked on the raft and kept an eye on Max to make sure she continued to be alright. The raft was nearing completion with only a few finishing touches left over.

Hanson stood over the raft as the rest of them worked on it. He said a small prayer as he shook some recently blessed holy water onto the raft to bless it.

Watching from where she sat, Dare barely wanted to move. She had worked full out, not stopping until the raft was near completion. Part of her knew that she would feel sick later, but at least she would have shown Max that she was worth keeping around.

Max had been out until only recently. She'd woken about five minuets agi and it took that long to realize where she was and pull herself upright. Leaning against the tree where Zep had left her she looked at the work they'd done. She was glad they'd not just sat around with their thumbs up their asses doing nothing, but as she looked at the raft, crafted by four adults and one child, she doubted if it would at all float.

Aaron was feeling a sting in his legs from sitting down here on the floor so long. "Alright, so that's blessed them," he said, looking at the little raft they had made "Shall we put someone on to test it? Someone who can swim that is." Meaning not him or the father; they couldn't kick to swim after all.

"A-are you ok?" Gus asked, kneeling next to Max. He looked like he had been through quite an emotional bout while she was unconscious.

"I'll be ok..." Max told Gus, trying to keep him from worrying. "A little zapped but better now that the infection is gone..." She nodded to the raft. "Who's responsible for that mess?"

Dare let out a huff of air as she stood. The raft would be waterproof and float, even if her craftsmanship was a bit shoddy. At least she had tried. Dare started gathering tools and packing them up, her limp increasing slightly in her fatigue.

Hanson looked down at Aaron as he put away his bible, "Who do you suggest we send across?" It was a simple question, but it would take a decent amount of thought considering the situation.

"Well, if we want to really test it, Zep," Aaron said with a little nod, "But how we're going to get it back is a little difficult. Unless we have a rope that means we can drag the raft back to us."

"That was my thought too." Hanson said, "Do you happen to have anymore rope Max?"

"Did you use all my para-cord?" Max asked. "I've been absent for a while I duno what all you used of my shit and what you didn't."

"No," Dare said quickly, pointing to where the cord was trailing from the raft. She had tied it off but hadn't cut it, not wanting to ruin the cord. She tossed the packs together as she finished picking things up.

"Gus, help me up." Max said, deciding to go over and inspect the work for herself. She was cureious to know if there was enough paracord or maybe even rope left to tie a run across the expanse of the water and use it as a pull to go across. She took the boy's arm to steady herself but as small as she was it was mostly her back and legs against the tree that brought her upright. She did swoon for a moment, but managed not to go toppling over. "If..." It took a moment for the foggyness to swim back out of her head. "If there's enough, whoever goes across first can take a line. We..." She tool a step forward but she felt heavy, as if she'd been sleeping for three days rather than a couple hours. "We can tie one end off back here and one up there. Use it to pull across..." Though she hated loosing any of their cordage. "If there's enough to go across twice we can keep from loosing it."

Gus helped Max out as best as he could at his short height. He steadied his feet and assisted her onto her feet and to the others.

"We'd need a good anchor point for both sides though," crossing one damn river was getting to be very annoying at this point. They just needed to get to the other side. Sure Max had been having a massive moment of injury while over here, but they needed to get moving. Who knows how close the nearest zombie was.

"Yeah.....fuck you rotting pile of forshak." Zep told Aaron sternly. "I am not about to be a guinea pig for your little raft."

Dare heard Zep say he wasn't doing it and she lost her patience. "I'll go! You can sit here and be safe, I'll test the raft!" She moved to start dragging the thing closer to the water, but her tiny frame wasn't even close to being able to move it.

"I don't like it any more than you do Zeppelin." Hanson said as he hobbled over slowly towards the man, "But, none of us can give it a true test. That and you would have to get on it anyways, and until you do there is going to be doubt that it will float."

Max had found more cord and a few lengths of rope in the extra gear they'd managed to steal. She took it and looped it over a particularly thick branch as close as she could find to the water's edge and began tying the ends together to make one rope long enough to go across this narrow channel of the river. She handed the two ends to Dare. "Tie this off once you get to the other side." she told her, glad that Dare was willing to act rather than stand around and yammer. "We can use it to pull across and when it's time for the gear it'll be something of a pulley system."

"If you get on first and the raft breaks, we can fix it better" Aaron said flatly to Zep "If you get on last and the raft breaks, I'm watching you swim." It wasn't as if he could do it, or Hanson, or Max, or even Gus really.

Dare took the rope and tied it around her waist. If all else failed, they could drag her sorry ass back out of the river. She went back to trying to move the raft and finally it started sliding across the dirt. She drug it straight towards the water and only stopped when wetness lapped at her boots.

Hanson heard the sound of the raft moving and turned around. When he saw Dare dragging it to the shore he sighed lightly. "Looks like the issue has been taking from our hands." he said to Aaron and Zep before whispering a prayer for her.

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