Five Seconds Later

Chapter Eleven: The Bomb

The drive back was long and silent. Cas chose to drive, since he didn't dare trust Ron, Mandy, or Lacey with the wheel. Katharine, if she really was pregnant, was in no condition, and neither was Dean, who was unconscious in the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry, Castiel." Mandy reached out a hand tentatively to pat Castiel's shoulder, but Lacey shot her a stern glare and she retreated as suddenly as she had come.

"We shouldn't have stayed away from him so long." Cas felt a terrible sinking in his chest, which he surmised must have been his heart breaking. "The base is only-"

The radio crackled and burst into a loud siren of noise, whirring its way into every corner of the car. Cas tensed, gripping the steering wheel and slowing the car.

"What is that?" Katharine yelled, her hands jerking up to cover her ears as Cas attempted to turn down the radio.

"INCOMING ALERT SYSTEM FOR THE UNITED STATES, REGION CENTRAL, STATE KANSAS. IF YOU ARE IN THE VICINITY OF WICHITA, TOPEKA, EMPORIA, OR LEBANON, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY IN THE DIRECTION OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. BOMBS ARE INCOMING FOR WICHITA IN ONE HOUR."

"Bombs??" Mandy gasped, grabbing onto Lacey as tears welled in her eyes.

"Wichita is miles away." Cas assured his troubled passengers, still slowing the vehicle. Another car drove by them in a significant panic.

"THE BOMB WILL LIKELY CAUSE THE FOLLOWING: DEATH OF ALL HUMANS IN IMPACTED AREA, INCLUDING THOSE INFECTED, BURNS SEVERE AS THIRD DEGREE WITHIN A FIFTY MILE RADIUS OF THE TARGET SITE, WHICH IS WESLEY MEDICAL CENTER, AND MANY OTHER SYMPTOMS THAT WE ARE NOT AT LIBERTY TO DISCUSS WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC."

"Shit." Ron leaned back in his seat, dumbfounded. "We need to get in the bunker as soon as we can."

"What about all the other people?" Cas steadied the vehicle as another car drove past them at a reckless speed. "The ones nearby who have nowhere to go?"

"They'll have to try and get away." Lacey shuddered as another car zoomed past them, its panicked driver steering erratically over the yellow line dividing the two sides of the road.

***

"We need to be friends with a doctor." Jo groaned as she lifted Dean's right leg, waiting for Charlie to grab his left. "We can't heal Dean by ourselves."

"What happened out there?" Sam ran a hand through his long locks of hair in a worried sort of fashion, his eyes narrowed.

"Dean got attacked by one of the..." Cas glanced at Lacey, and cleared his throat. "One of the 'walkers.' It bit him in the arm, by his bicep."

"It... bit him?" Bobby crossed his arms, watching the group from under his ball cap with a disapproving look in his eyes.

"It might have finished him off too, but we managed to get to it before it took another bite." Mandy pursed her lips, reaching blindly for Lacey's hand a moment before she found it. "We were worried Dean's shouting would bring more to us, so we got him in the car and then he lost so much blood..."

"Sound attracts them?" Kevin had a notepad, and was standing off to the side scribbling away in it.

"Yes." Ron nodded, taking one of Dean's arms. Cas grabbed the other. "We've been out on the road for about a week and a half now. Left home... we knew it was going to get worse. We were looking for a safe, isolated place to hole up in. It gave us a lot of time to learn about these creatures."

"Which one of you knows the most about the walkers?" Ellen looked at each of the new recruits in turn, her gaze eventually settling back on Ron.

"That'd be Lacey." Mandy smiled slightly and glanced at her girlfriend with pride. "She's been documenting them since day one."