The next morning was a bit of a haze. Beck had come into my room and woken me up, saying that if we were to leave with Sam and help out today that we'd need to get an early start to the day. Which was saying something because it was still dark. Cody told me that we'd just do our work out later in the day, which was good because I had completely spaced on telling him that I'd volunteered to help Sam.

After my shower, and after breakfast with Chester who was whining about having to help Cody out with something today, Sam, Beck, and I all headed outside and started walking to Doctor Venson's makeshift infirmary.

I could remember when I first came to the compound, my hurt leg needed tending to and the boys brought me up to his house to get fixed up. They had mentioned that if you were particularly sick, that he would go out and make a house call. They hadn't mentioned an infirmary, and when I asked Sam about it he put on a cheerful face but I could tell he was worried.

"Well with so many infected in such a short time, Doctor V wouldn't want to be traveling all over the compound and leave his house for such periods of time, as other people are likely to be showing up at his door for other emergencies," he explained and shoved his hands in his front pockets, "This is also a little bit safer, we can watch everyone at once, and maybe stop the spread of infection."

I had tried to ask more questions but he shut me down on most of them, saying it was better that I asked Doctor Venson, as he knew far more than Sam did. A small part of me worried that by coming here today I was putting myself at risk to falling ill just like the patients, but a larger part of me knew that Sam and Doctor Venson wouldn't be able to tend to much more people on their own. Not to mention that it was the right thing to do, as I wasn't really needed for anything else.

I blew out a breath and watched in a slightly fascinated fashion as my breath came out as a puff of smoke in the crisp morning air. The grass had frost layering it, that I suspected would turn to dew and then evaporate all together as the day wore on. I had dressed in a short sleeve shirt and a pair of leggings, borrowing a coat from both Beck and Chester. Chester's coat was lime green and a hoodie, while I had Beck's leather jacket on over it.

The leather jacket alone would have been too big, but paired with the bulky hoodie it fit alright. And then of course there were my knew but used combat boots.

We turned onto a street that I recognised as the street Doctor Venson lived on, the cute little blue one story house came into view, and in the grassy side yard, which was big enough to hold at least two cars side by side, was a small building that hadn't been there before. It was made of mostly tarps and ropes, but it seemed pretty sturdy, as the tarps were tied down securely and the two flaps that served as a door were being held open with some bungee cords.

"Doctor Venson?" Sam called out softly, holding a hand out to Beck and I to signal that we stay put while he ventured towards the infirmary.

At first there was no noise, and then a greying head poked out of the flaps. His warm eyes landed on Sam before drifting towards Beck and I, "Sam, you brought helpers? Because they don't look sickly to me," he smiled and stepped out of the infirmary, letting the flaps that served as doors fall shut in his wake.

I couldn't see Sam's face from where I stood but I could hear the tone of cheerfulness in his voice, "Sure did, Kodi, who you met when she first came. Her knee was cut open, I believe you also saw her yesterday as well. And then there's Beck, who you already know pretty well."

Doctor Venson nodded and crossed his arms, "Well," he said, addressing all three of us, "mighty fine to see young people who aren't afraid to put in a helping hand! And I sure will need it today because two more people showed up last night, tallying up the total to five people in under twenty four hours," he uncrossed his arms and frowned, "Which might not seem like a whole lot, but we only have so many people here to begin with."

I nodded softly, understanding the meaning. If more people start getting sick, we could have a real situation on our hands, especially given how they aren't sure what the medicine is that will help with the problem.

Doctor Venson gave us all instructions on how we could help, Sam was to be helping Doctor Venson take data and symptoms, and then pour over some medical books in hopes of finding something that fit what these people had, while Beck and I were just tending to the patients and making sure they were okay.

For the first hour or so Beck and I simply cleaned up and tidied, but as soon as the sun started to lighten up the skies, one of the patients, a woman with frizzy blonde hair and dimples, woke up and immediately started complaining of her stomach, and then promptly threw up all over herself and her bedding.

Beck sighed and walked over, "Don't worry Kodi, I've got it," he said, catching my eye.

It was probably for the best because a couple of moments later a man who looked to be in his early thirties woke up and started demanding that he see his wife. I had to calm him down, which took a good forty minutes, and a threat from Beck after the guy grabbed onto my arm in an attempt to get my attention. But by the time he was quietly sulking in his bed, the other people had woken up. I learned that the lady who had puked was named Marty, and she had a cat who was named Mister Floftkin. The man who so desperately wanted to see his wife was Arnie, he had apologized and then while Beck was away spraying the soiled bedding of Marty's, he told me that his wife had died and sometimes he dreams about her, and wakes up thinking she might still be able to be saved.

There was also a little boy, no older than eight who didn't speak, though Marty told me his name was Jamie. He had messy black hair and glasses, and he never seemed to let go of his toy dinosaur. The other two patients were Kyla, and Eddy, they kept to themselves mostly.

Around 11 ish, Doctor Venson and Sam came into the infirmary and took what vitals they were able, before checking for any new symptoms. Beck had come back in and was now helping Marty by dipping and wringing out a rag so that she could at least wipe herself somewhat clean.

Sam stood next to Jamie, who looked up at him as if he were a hero.

"Kodi, can you come here a second?" he asked, and I stood up from my stool, making my way past Arnie who gave me a smile.

I looked at Sam expectantly after giving Jamie a tiny wave, "Yeah?"

Sam ran his fingers through his hair and then crossed his arms, much like Doctor Venson had done earlier, he nodded for me to follow him and so I stepped outside the makeshift infirmary. We walked a little bit away from it so that our voices wouldn't carry.

"Jamie is one of the furthest along, Doctor Venson thinks he knows what's wrong with them, but he isn't certain," there was a pause as he collected his thoughts, "I don't think Jamie will make it much longer, but we have to be certain we know what it is before we try to treat him, or any of the others. The wrong treatment could cause further problems, and we can't afford something like that."

I let his words roll around in my head, and instead of pestering him with questions that I'm not sure he'd know the answer to, I instead went with the words I knew would at least lift some of the weight that seemed to be weighing him down, "What can I do to help?" I asked.

Sam smiled, "I was thinking maybe you and Beck could go down to the food supply room, and maybe get enough stuff to make a nice pot of chicken soup? Beck's made it before but if you can get Cody to help you, that would just be awesome." he fixed his warm laughter filled eyes on me.

I gave a salute, "Yes Sir, Sam Sir."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Come on, Sunshine, let's get a move on," he said, and together we walked back into the infirmary.

Inside I made my way over to Beck and explained what Sam wanted us to do, then both of us ducked out of the tent and I followed his lead down the sidewalk. The silence between us was light and comfortable. Both of us lost in our own thoughts.

It wasn't until we were walking up to the gym that I brought my attention back to the present, "Are we getting Cody first?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I figured we might as well just in case he says yes and I end up forgetting some sort of ingredient, which is highly probable," he said, smiling down at me, "Why?"

I shrugged, "No real reason I just didn't realize that we were asking Cody first," I replied, and then stepped inside the gym.

Cody saw us walk in, and excused himself out of a conversation with Michael, Adam, and Benjamin.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he said, and then stood up a little straighter, "Something wrong?" his light blue eyes went from Beck to me and then stayed there.

I shook my head, "No we just wanted to know if you would just absolutely hate helping us make chicken noodle soup?" I asked, and threw in a last minute pouty lip for maximum effect.

"Well damn," Cody said sarcastically, "I was going to just say you had to let me be the taste tester, but how am I supposed to even try to strike up a deal with that face? Alright, you pulled on my leg hard enough, I guess," he said and sighed as if it was a ton of effort.

I smiled and Beck chuckled, "You're too weak, you know that?" Beck said, going along with Cody's little game as we walked down the sidewalk and headed in the direction of the bell tower.

The boys bickered as we walked down the street and I, being too distracted by the scenery, didn't contribute much to the conversation. As we neared the church with the bell tower I began to take more notice of my surroundings. If I were to live here, as I have been for a while now, I'd need to fully know how to get around without someone guiding me.

"Guys?" I asked, interrupting whatever Cody had been saying.

He didn't look very upset about it though because he redirected his attention to focus on me, a slight smile on his lips, "Yeah Kodi?" he asked politely.

"Do we keep the food in the church?" I asked, frowning.

Beck looked over at the church, which was no more than a half a block ahead of us now. Its paint was a little faded and it looked as if it could use some repairs here and there, but overall it was in great condition.

"Nah, some of the folks who live here are really religious, and to deny them their rights of using a church for what it's intended for would just be rude. We do however, keep it in the little side building that is connected to the church. No use in letting the building go to waste, besides, there's freezers and a kitchen and stuff in there," he explained, running his hand over his chest and brushing off some nonexistent dirt.

The building that seemed to be attached to the church was just a small square of a building. Perhaps it had at one point merely been as we were using it now, food storage. But instead of just being for the church, it's now used to feed an entire little town.

"Oh," I said, and watched as Cody stepped forward to open the door, but he didn't have to turn the handle, because the door was already open.

It wasn't wide open, but enough so that when you got up to it, you noticed it wasn't properly latched. Beside me Beck tensed up and reached out, his hand enveloping mine. The movement was so unexpected that I jumped a little bit, and when I looked up at him, he was smiling despite the situation, but then he shook himself slightly and his face became a mask of worry and suspicion.

"That's not right," he said, "No one would have left it open, especially given that animals could get in."

Cody glanced back at the pair of us, his eyes landed briefly on Beck's hand, which was still wrapped securely around my own, and his jaw flexed a bit before he looked at Beck's face, "let's hope not," he said, his voice a grumble.

He turned back to the door, and using his shoulder to open it, walked inside. I went to follow, but Beck stayed put and gently tugged my hand, pulling me back. Inside of the building, Cody swore, and I had to hold myself from lunging in. After a few seconds of silence, that was filled with only the distant laughter of some people down the road, Cody poked his head out the door, looking grim.

"You two'd better come in, might as well see the damage," he said, and then disappeared back inside.

I stepped forward, making my hand slack so that if Beck wanted, he could let go. Beck only tightened his grip, and I had to fight back the smile that wanted to surface because of it.

The urge to smile didn't last long as I stepped further into the building, which had no decorations, and saw what used to be an impressive stash of non perishable foods. I could imagine how the rice had once been in neat stacks according to kind, and how the oils and pickled foods had been in order as well. How the bags upon bags of flour must have sat on some of the shelvings, and most importantly, how it had all been intact.

But now, oil was dumped all over almost everything, a gallon or two had been spilled all over the rice that had somehow made its way from the bags, onto the floor. The flour, coated just about every surface, and there were pickles, and peppers, along with glass strewn about the floor. Some canned jelly was smeared on a wall, while the half tampered with jars lay uselessly on the floor.

Someone gasped, and next to me Beck swore under his breath. Cody, for his part, put his hands on his hips.

"Seems we've got a rat problem," he said, sounding one step shy of irate.

Beck scoffed, "I reckon whoever did this is in fact nothing but vermin," he seethed.

I for once, knew to keep my mouth closed, as all that could come to my mind was to mention that at one time I had had a rat, and she was rather nice, even if I had named her Bob.