The Beginning of the end.

Rachel dropped down to one knee and deftly caught the little girl, gently about the waist.

"Here now, we're not going to hurt you. Where's your mom and dad?" Rachel asked soothingly.

She glanced up towards Audie, with a questioning look, wondering if the answer to her own question, lay beneath one of the sheets in the tent.

"I didn't do nothin'!" The girl started to struggle, kicking, scratching, but before she could actually bite Rachael Audie slid up behind her and grabbed a fistful of her hair, tugging her head back.

"None of that!" While she didn't want to hurt the girl, Audie wasn't about to let her hurt either of them, and she had experience restraining without doing any great damage. Still gripping the struggling girl's hair, she sat behind her, wrapping her legs around her waist and her free arm high on her chest. "Hold still, we're not going to hurt you." Glancing at Rachael, Audie frowned. "What's she got in her pockets?"

"Lemme go!" Still fighting, the girl seemed determined to get away, but between the two women she could barely move. Even so, she was squirming enough that things were starting to fall from her pockets...a wallet, a couple of watches, more money than a kid should have...

Rachel still holding onto the girl with one hand, used the other to start pulling out the other items from her pockets.

"Looks like she's been looting the bodies,tell me young lady, where are your parents?"

Rachel had no idea if the girl's parents were alive or dead. and also what were they going to do with her?

"Dunno, don't care!" the girl snarled, struggling against the women. "That's my stuff! Don't none'a them need it no more."

"Knock it off!" Audie hugged her tighter until the girl finally stilled. "Now listen, we'll help you, but you gotta let us, okay? You can't survive alone."

"I can...I have." The girl glared at Rachael for a moment, then relaxed. "Yeah...yeah, all right. Lemme go, I'll do what ya want."

Rachel looked towards Audie then nodded, letting go of the little girl. She was however prepared for grabbing the girl if she decided to become difficult once more.

"Okay, what's your name, can't really call you hey you, it isn't polite."

Rachel took her eyes off the little girl for the moment,to scan the area. If the little girl was here there might be others.

Audie released the girl, scooting back a little to give her some room, but ready to grab her again if necessary.

"Arnie," she girl snapped, looking from one woman to the other, calculating her chances of getting away. "Wha'chew care?"

"We care because you can't be running around here all alone," Audie tired to reason. "You are alone, right?"

Arnie shrugged, relaxing some. "Maybe." Wasn't no use to stay here, like the woman said, if she had something else to resort to. "Why?"

"Well, you can come with us." Audie shrugged. "We're staying on a ranch, with horses and dogs, and my cat, Buster. There's plenty of room, isn't there?" She glanced at Rachael.

Rachel was quiet for a moment then nodded, "There's room at the ranch. And I'm thinking it would be a good idea. The one thing you need to know though there will be rules to follow, Arnie."

The tall blonde wasn't going to turn a little girl away, it just wasn't right. Rachel smiled gently. "I'm thinking this would be a good idea." Paul wouldn't be turning a young girl away either, he just wasn't that sort of person.

Rachel looked around a bit more, "You know, we better get things rolling for our project as well, Audie."

Just then her cellphone rang, making Rachel jump, she hadn't thought there would be any phone service out here apparently things haven't decayed to where it would die off yet. Rachel figured that it would happen soon enough though. She answered it, smiling. it was Paul.

"Hey babe, are things alright with you and Audie?"

"Yes, Paul, we're going to have some other company, got a little girl named Arnie we'll be bringing in. She's younger than Anne, can't really let her be out here on her own."

"Just be careful, Love ya babe."

"Love you too, will be back when we're done with what we're needing to do." Rachel then closed the phone up.

"Shall we?" giving a determined smile.

"Rules?" Arnie's nose wrinkled up in suspicion.

"Nothing bad," Audie laughed. "You might have to help with chores and stuff, but don't worry about it too much. And Paul has a little girl about your age, you should get along well...and I think you can have your own room." Standing, she shrugged. "Now, we're going to steal an ambulance, you can come or not." Then she looked at Rachael. "Should we see if there are any medical supplies we can scavenge?"

Rachel looked at Audie then towards Arnie, then nodded. "Yes lets get going on that." she looked up towards the sky, which had the look of another storm brewing.

"We need to get things together, don't know how long we have before things get even worse, if they could get worse than people dying."

Sighing Rachel stood up, the shotgun once more in her hands, rolling her shoulders to loosen them up. I wonder how many more we'll come across just wanting to survive." she mused outloud.

Audie shrugged, heading for the main part of the building. "Hey, kid," she called to Arnie, who, to her surprise, was actually following them, "you know where the medications are kept around here?" Likely, there would be a Pyxus, a locked metal cabinet for dispensing medications, that they would have to break into. She'd never tried it before, but she was pretty sure they could if they really tried.

Arnie just shrugged. "Wasn't lookin' for drugs."

Nodding, Audie headed into the ER, finding it eerily deserted. But this was her realm, and even though she'd never been in this particular ER before, she navigated it rather easily. "There it is," she finally said, pointing to a windowed room and the red cabinet it contained. "Think we can get in?" she asked Rachael, referring to the room's door that had a push-button lock pad.

Rachel looked closely at the keypad, unless they knew where they would keep the records of the combination there were a couple of other ways to get in.

"Well... could look for the keycode, depending on where they put the combination or, I can get some tools and pry the thing apart.I have some tools out in the truck. Or we could shoot it. I'm thinking though it would be best to try to pry the keypad loose and get in that way.

She knocked against the door checking to see if it were just wood or the solid steel beneath the wood veneer.

"Looks steel," Audie declared, "maybe not solid, but hard enough not to break easily. Same with the windows." She sighed and shook her head. "We'll have to settle for basic supplies this trip and come back later with better equipment."

"Seems like stealin' to me," Arnie grumbled, looking up at the women. "No different from what I was doin', so why can't I keep what I got?"

Audie just rolled her eyes.

Rachel stifled a chuckle, hearing Arnie's comment.

"I agree with you, come back with better tools." She glanced over to the clock that was behind the glass and steel door. "Time's getting late so yes, best we acquire the other things, especially another set of wheels."

A look down each hall Rachel then turned to Audie, "You're going to have to direct us which way to go on this end, I'm not familiar with the layout of medical."

"Hmm...well, the rooms should be stocked..." Audie led the way into one of the rooms, then shrugged. "Grab a wheel chair and we can load it up." Then she glanced at the girl. "You were taking things for yourself, we're taking things for the group, to help survive." She shrugged. "Besides, I doubt money and jewelry would get you much anyway with the way things are."

She started rummaging through cabinets, finding one with bandages and IV supplies. "Let's clean out this one to start..."

Rachel nodded and grabbed another wheel chair plus a bed sheet to make it easier to fill it up like a kangaroo pouch. With the one cabinet cleaned out, it was on to the next. An hour or so later, Rachel looked at the things they gathered.

"We may be wanting to get the ambulance to fill the back of it with what we've found? Plus getting the back of the truck filled up too."

"Let's go ahead and get this stuff out," Audie suggested, starting to push a laden wheelchair toward the exit. "Hey, Arnie, grab one of those," she called to the girl with them, nodding to an infusion pump, hoping that having her participate would encourage her to open up.

"Yeah, sure." The girl shrugged, still not sure how this was different from stealing, although in her heart she knew they were right, and that they were going to help her. She just was too independent and wary to admit it. Still, she grabbed the thing and followed after the women.

Outside, Audie went toward the ambulance that was parked in the bay. Leaving the chair by the back doors, she went around to the front and started looking in the grille. "With any luck..." Grinning, she reached in and flipped a switch, unlocking the doors. "Perfect! Hopefully, the keys are inside. Let's get loaded up." Despite her background, the place was starting to give her the creeps.

Rachel was feeling uncomfortable as well, just the thought of being in an empty hospital, it had a surreal feeling about it.

"Once we get this loaded, I'll get the truck and follow you out."Rachel remarked, then quickly went to get the supplies that she had acquired.

Rachel wondered if there were keys left in the ambulance then it occured to her that they could possibly have the keys in the ignition, just to be ready to take off at a moments notice.

"I'll be right back!" Rachel called out, and dashed off to where she had parked the truck.

It didn't take her too long to get it started back up, and Rachel drove to get to where Audie and Arnie were waiting.

"I'm ready when you are." giving a thumbs up towards them.

Fortunately, the ambulances here were like just about everywhere else, and the keys were indeed in the ignition. It started easily, and when Rachel returned with the truck Audie and Arnie were buckled in, waiting. Returning the 'thumbs up', Audie nodded. She was more than ready to get back to the ranch, where it was relatively worry free. Besides, she was ready to eat!

Rachel took the lead, heading away from the hospital and towards the road which would take the women and Arnie back to the ranch. The first part of the journey wasn't too bad when Rachel noticed a three vehicles following her and the ambulance that Audie was driving. Two vehicles coming from the front. She moved the truck to where she was alongside the passenger side getting Arnie to roll down the window. Rachel could feel the bite of the wind on her face, sending shivers down her spine.

"I'm thinking we might be in for some trouble." Rachel called out to Audie, "We're going to have to deviate to another road less traveled, think you're up to driving down some country side roads? Its going to be necessary to evade this guys. I wish I had thought of bringing a walkie talkie." Rachel wondered if Paul had something along that line in the truck, at the moment though, she couldn't afford to look.

"I'll take the lead, and hopefully we can lose them!" she yelled to Audie." The next road up I'm taking a right."

Rachel sped up then moving to where they would take the next road.She remembered looking around at the country roads, and called up the maps she had loaded up on her phone. As long as the battery lasted, they will have the guidance to get out of this. Hopefully

"I'm thinking we might be in for some trouble." Rachel called out to Audie, "We're going to have to deviate to another road less traveled, think you're up to driving down some country side roads? Its going to be necessary to evade this guys. I wish I had thought of bringing a walkie talkie." Rachel wondered if Paul had something along that line in the truck, at the moment though, she couldn't afford to look.

Audie had noticed the vehicles as well -- it was difficult to, considering the lack of traffic on the road -- but hadn't wanted to risk pulling over to contact Rachael about it. Now, she nodded in reply. "Yeah, I can take what you can...been driving these things for a couple'a years."

"I'll take the lead, and hopefully we can lose them!" she yelled to Audie." The next road up I'm taking a right."

"Got it!" she shouted, nodding then falling back as she rolled up the window. "It'll be fine," she reassured Arnie, noting that the girl, although glaring at her defiantly, was wide-eyed and breathing quickly. "You have your seatbelt on...don't worry..."

Rachel sped up then moving to where they would take the next road.She remembered looking around at the country roads, and called up the maps she had loaded up on her phone. As long as the battery lasted, they will have the guidance to get out of this. Hopefully.

Maintaining a steady distance between the ambulance and Rachael's truck, Audie kept an eye on the cars tailing them, relieved that they hadn't seemed to have gotten any closer. Maybe they were overreacting, although she doubted they could be so lucky!