Beyond The Barrier [COMPLETED]

Chapter 7 - "Just your group survived?"

The Med Wing was nearly empty when they stepped inside, and the patients that remained were asleep or close to it. Louie moved to the back of the Wing and stopped by the doctor's cot, Peyton beside her.

"Hello John, how are you feeling?" Louie asked.

In the past week she had been the person that oversaw his care. She found he was open and eager to trust the people around him. He had started talking the second day and was surprised when he mentioned the maps and Louie was clueless to what he was referring to. He told her he had expected Peyton to have filled her in. Louie had merely brushed off the fact, and hid her annoyance well.

The man who had been reading, looked up, his gray eyes meeting Louie's then shifting to Peyton's, a quiet smile sliding across his face.

"I'm good, headaches are gone," he said.

"Good, are you up for some movement and a conversation?"

John nodded and closed the book. Louie moved to his side as he stood, her hands at the ready to balance him as he got his bearings. Once certain he wasn't going to fall over head first when she stepped away, Louie started walking, gesturing for Peyton and the doctor to follow. Peyton settled beside his friend.

"Hey Peyton, I'm surprised you're still here," the doctor said.

"Still healing."

"Ah, of course."

"I'm glad to see you up and about."

John placed a steady hand on Peyton's shoulder and gave him a warm, friendly smile.

"Me too. Thank you for making it happen."

Louie glanced back as Peyton merely nodded the gratitude away. They made it out of the Med Wing and over to the second set of offices, without being stopped, the majority of the Compound at lunch. Louie opened the door to her office and ushered the two men inside. She gestured for the doctor to take the larger of the two chairs and then refused to sit.

"Peyton, sit," Louie said, after he had argued with her and tried to make her take it.

John's smiled at the exchange, amused by Louie's command over the man he had watched lead a group of nine people across five states. Peyton reluctantly sat and Louie turned her attention to John. There was something about the way he looked at her that made her relax around him. It was as if he knew the weight the fell on her shoulders and did not pity her it, but instead admired her for it.

"So John, what's this valuable information you care to share with me," Louie said.

The doctor settled back in the chair, his energy, though better than it had been was still far from being sufficient.

"Louie, is there another chair, what I have to tell you might take a while and I prefer not to have to look up for the extent of it."

Louie nodded and disappeared for a second before returning with another chair, which she placed between the two men, and sat, though her body was far from relaxed. John leveled Louie with a steady gaze.

"Louie, how much do you and your Compound know about the Soulless?"

"We call them Crawlers," Louie said. "But our information is very limited. We know that they were born from a disease that started in New Zealand. The disease is transmitted by bites. The change takes up to about two hours and there is no cure. They have taken over the majority of the world. Other then that there are rumors we have heard, like they can never die but nothing concrete."

John nodded in approval.

"Most of that is true. I want to explain to you exactly what they are. You should know that more than a doctor, I'm a scientist. I have been working to understand and study, we'll call them Crawlers for your sake, for the last fifteen years of my life. Believe me, it hasn't been the easiest of tasks."