The next day, John woke up. Then he sat up and started to eat some candy from the vending machine. John sat at the table as he played a game. It was only a couple hours later when the women stirred awake and began to move around. John greeted them and handed them some food.
A couple minutes later, the women were ready to get back on the road. They walked out of the break room, heading straight for the cars. When they walked out the front door, the women sped up a little and began to inspect the cars. They were very curious as to what John was doing yesterday and seeing these two finished cars.
When John walked over Jess asked, "So, what did you do to fix these cars."
John said nonchalantly, "Just some simple repairs. Some spark plugs, brake pads, oil change, and some other minor things."
Demmy said, "Wow. I didn't know you knew about cars."
Enid said, "Yeah, especially when you saved Jess's life."
Janet asked, "How did he save Jess's life?"
Jess said, "You see this scar on my throat."
Janet said, "Yeah."
Jess said, "Well, it happened after the apocalypse and John was able to save me using his surgical skills."
Bianca said, "That's amazing. John has a lot of skills then."
Demmy said, "Yeah, he is good at fighting, a good surgeon and he apparently also dabbles in cars."
Bianca asked John, "What other skills do you have?"
John smiled and said slowly, "Secret." All the women stared at John more a couple minutes before they gave up and began to shuffle into the cars. John drove the Prius and Bianca drove the Accord. They drove back to the highway before they began driving toward the prison once again.
They drove for about 6 hours before they stopped at a small town. John got out first, followed by the women. They started walking towards a small white building, they looked in through the window and saw that it was a small pharmacy. They were about to leave when Jess stopped them.
Jess said, "Wait. John, can we go in? I want to get a test." John looked confused for a second before a thought came to mind. John nodded and walked to the door, it was a sliding door, so John pried the lock open before he opened the door.
They walked inside and John whistled loudly, trying to attract any walkers that may be hiding. No walker came out, John said, "Be careful, we don't know if some walkers are trapped at the moment." The women nodded before they followed John, the rest of the group split up from John and Jess. The group of women began to look for some stuff they wanted as John and Jess walked over to the hygiene section.
John and Jess reached the section and began to look at the shelves. They found a pregnancy test at the end of the isle. Jess grabbed the test and began to walk to the bathroom, John followed behind her. They walked into the bathroom and Jess walked into the stall while John sat on the sink.
A minute later Jess came out of the stall and sat down beside John. John said, "Now we wait." Jess nodded as she leaned on John's shoulder. About 6 minutes later they looked down at the test and saw a little plus sign.
Jess squealed in excitement as she threw the test on the ground and hugged John tightly. John hugged her back as he stood up. John kissed her passionately, leaving Jess in a bit of a daze. John then walked out of the bathroom with Jess, holding her soft hand.
They walked out of the bathroom together with smiles. They walked to the front of the pharmacy and saw the others sitting on the front counter eating some snacks. Jess ran towards them and said happily, "Guess what?"
Enid said, "What?"
Jess burst out, "I'm pregnant." The Enid and Demmy squealed as they grabbed Jess into a strong hug. Janet and Bianca were a little surprised.
They said, "Congratulations, Jess." John smiled as he watched his women, he was eating a cookie at the same time. A couple minutes later, the women calmed down.
John said, "Alright, let's go look around some other buildings before we continue our trip." The women nodded as they followed John out of the pharmacy. They walked down the street, going from house to house. They found a whole bunch of stuff, but they left most of it behind as they already had enough supplies.
They were going to search one last building before they went back to the cars. They walked towards a large brick building. It was a fire station, the group walked up to the front door. John was about to kick the door down, when he heard a noise. Placing his ear against the wooden door, John listened closely and was able to her some high-pitched voices talking.
The women looked at John questioningly. John said, "I hear some voices inside. They seem pretty young."
Jess asked, "What should we do?"
John said, "Let's knock on the door and see what happens." John knocked on the door and then waited for some kind of response. John could hear movement inside abruptly, but it stopped a couple minutes later. It sounded like someone was barricading the door hurriedly.
John said, "Sounds like they weren't expecting company." All the women deadpanned.
John coughed before saying, "Let's look around for another way in."
Bianca said, "Why don't we just leave them?"
John said, "The voices sound young, we can't leave kids out here by themselves."
Jess said, "Yeah, kids can't be by themselves, even more so now." Bianca and Janet still didn't seem convinced.
John said, "How about this? You wait at the car with Demmy and Enid, while me and Jess look for a way in."
Janet said, "Okay." John then walked off with Jess circling around the building. In the back of the fire station was a brick wall that fenced in a small parking lot. John helped Jess to get on top of the wall before he jumped up and grabbed the edge. John pulled himself up and saw the small lot. There was a small garden near the back door.
John looked over at Jess before he hopped down, John then caught Jess as she fell off the wall into his arms. John set Jess on the ground, she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek as she started walking to the back door. John walked right beside her; John would be able to handle any attack that came at them.
When they reached the back door, John opened the door slowly as Jess took cover beside the door. John opened the door fully and was not able to see anyone. Jess said loudly with her sweet voice, "Is anyone in there? We won't hurt you. Come and greet us."
John and Jess could hear some whispering from deep inside the station. They waited a couple minutes, before they saw a kid around 12 come walking down the hall. The boy was holding a makeshift spear and he seemed a little nervous.
Ken walked forward slowly as he looked at the intimidating man standing in the doorway. His spear was aimed right at the man as he inched his way towards the man. Ken saw the man turn his head to the side and nod, this scared him. He thought there was an ambush, but then he saw a pretty lady walk out from behind the door frame.
Ken gained a little confidence as he looked at the woman standing in front of the man. She looked very nice, and she had a kind smile on her face. Ken relaxed himself and stopped pointing his spear at the woman. He walked forward a little faster and arrived a couple feet from the woman before he stopped moving forward.
Ken asked, "Who are you and what do you want?"
Jess said softly, "I'm Jess and this is my husband, John. We heard some noise from in here and wanted to see who it was. We didn't want to leave any kids behind before we left."
Ken observed them, he saw the woman's neck and saw a huge scar. Looking at the man he saw a scar on his cheek that matched up. This scar made the man even more intimidating. Ken said, "Hello, I'm Ken. Why do you want to take us?"
Jess said, "We don't want you to be in danger."
Ken said, "We are not in danger. This place has been fine for us, and we still have food."
Jess asked, "What about when the food runs out? Will you scavange?"
Ken said, "We will have to."
Jess said, "That is very dangerous."
Ken said, "It will be worth the risk."
John spoke for the first time, startling Ken. John said, "It's never worth the risk. You don't know what's out there. I'm guessing you have been here since the beginning."
Ken said, "Well, what would you know?"
John stepped forward; his face was grim. Ken backed away in fear, but he stopped, when he saw Jess hold John's arm. John stopped immediately, then Jess stepped forward and said, "John has seen many terrible things, so he gets a little defensive. Don't mind him, although he looks scary. He is a very nice person."
Ken calmed down as he looked at Jess. Ken asked, "What has he seen?"
Jess said, "That is not for you to here. It is much too graphic for you."
Ken said, "Don't treat me like a kid. I have been taking care of everyone." Ken covered his mouth with his hand as he looked at Jess.
Jess asked, "Others. Where are they?"
Ken said, "You don't need to know."
John said, "Look kid, do you want to come with us, or do you want to stay here?"
Ken looked at John for a while before he said, "We... will. Come out guys." Immediately after Ken spoke 3 more kids walked down the hall. They walked forward and stood right behind John, they looked a little scared of John, but they seemed fine with Jess.
Two of the kids were girls and the other was a boy. The two girls looked a little younger than Ken and the boy looked to be around 7 years old. Ken said as he pointed at the kids, "This id Ed, Carry, and Lin."
Jess said, "Wow. You are all so cute." Jess walked forward slowly and grabbed them in a hug. The kids were a little startled, but they soon melted into Jess's embrace. Ken looked at this, feeling a little left out. John walked over to Ken and patted his head. Ken looked up at the big man with a complicated gaze. John said, "The leader will always feel left out, but a good leader will always keep his chin high."
Ken nodded some as he cheered up. John said, "Alright Jess, you have been hugging them for 3 minutes straight. We should get going, we still have a long way to go." Jess nodded as she let the kids go reluctantly. Jess and John then followed the kids back to a room, in the room was some cots and other items. Jess helped the kids pack some of their things before they walked to the front door. John moved the barricade that could have easily been knocked in along with the door.
They walked out the front door and saw Enid and the women looking over at them. John had Lin, Carry, and Ed get into the Honda with Janet, while Ken would be riding them in the Prius. When they were all settled in their cars, they began to drive off. This would be their last stop before they reached the prison.