Chapter 67: 2.36
The next morning I found myself in a room with fifteen people: Alex, Ethan, Matt, Luke, Ty, Laura, Will, Leo, Holly, Victoria, Rick, Tommy, Sofia, Lucas, and lastly Noah.
Noah sat at the head of the conference table, his trusty map spread out and a stack of photocopies of the map beside it.
"From here our next destination is Tulelake wildlife reserve, on a regular day last year the drive would take us nine hours, however, the route we're taking passes by multiple towns and there are rumours of wildlife acting strange, so I won't force any of you to continue with me, General Blackwood is happy to keep any of you here so it's not too late to back out."
Nobody so much as stirred, happy with our silence he continued explaining the route to each of us, his face devoid of all emotion, completely in work mode.
System took note of what he said whilst I stared into space trying to focus on the happy memories Hannah had of Izzy in the dream. Slowly I felt guilt bubble in my chest, not just at denying a father his daughter but denying my future daughter her real father.
"Come on," Holly shook my arm as I noticed everyone was grabbing a printed map each to stuff in their backpacks and leave the room.
I mimicked the rest of them stuck in a herd mentality and followed them through the corridors to the vehicles.
Victoria drove Noah and Will in front in the jeep and Tommy and Rick drove the rest of us in the truck. Still feeling sleepy, since I tossed and turned most of the night mulling over Alex's words and Noah's facial expressions. I lay on Alex's lap again, resting on him to nap this time instead.
A time later I was woken when the truck pulled to a stop. "Are we there already?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, it hadn't felt like that long.
Alex shook his head, then raised his finger to my mouth to signal to stay quiet. I glanced at Sofia, Leo, and Lucas who were all curiously looking through the tiny front window. Outside I suddenly heard a gunshot and a bunch of swearing.
"Stay put," Tommy shouted back to us before leaving with Rick.
"Zombies or people?" I asked the only three people who could see what was going on.
"People," Lucas replied excitedly. Poor kid must be bored.
"That's a relief," I sank back into Alex's chest ready to go back to sleep.
A loud gunshot sounded again, followed by a few more. "Or maybe not."
Tommy and Rick reentered the truck, Tommy starting it whilst Rick shouted for us to all stay low. The metal sides of the truck were bulletproof, but the fabric covering its roof was not.
Alex squished me under him his abs pressing on my slightly sore and bloated stomach. For a moment I swore I felt a little somersault low down. I burst out in giggles as the truck sped over a bumpy surface.
"Do you always laugh in life or death situations?" Alex asked into my ear quietly.
"I think she's trying to push you off," I laughed, still feeling the weird sensation pressing up at his stomach. Though I was certain I was the only one able to feel it, "she's still too little."
"She better not want to monopolize her mommy," Alex kissed me tenderly, we acted as if we weren't going over seventy miles per hour on uneven ground after being shot at.
The truck came to a screeching halt. I heard multiple car doors slamming shut and then running steps until the tent flap was ripped open. Will and Tommy were both hovering over the edge of the truck door giving heavy sighs of relief.
"You can get off her now," Will said in annoyance when nobody moved and Alex was still pressing me to the ground after having just kissed me.
We all climbed out to let our feet touch solid ground and discuss what had just happened.
"Why did they try and shoot us?" I asked Will as he was looking me up and down for injuries.
"Townsfolk acting like fucking bandits," Will cursed, lifting my top layers to expose my stomach, "is the little one okay?" his rough, dirty hand rested on my stomach with familial affection. It felt so foreign, yet it made me feel so happy.
"Will," Noah called from beside the jeep, his map out again spread over the bonnet, the other soldiers beside him. Will gently tousled my hair completely ruining my ponytail and ran to join his teammates.
They would always come first. The army always came first. Even against his wife. Hannah had overheard one too many arguments during Ivy's pregnancy, even threats of divorce.
"Ty, Ty," I ran over excitedly, seeing him casually leaning against the truck with a book on pregnancy. He was really getting into his role. I had a sudden dark thought, this guy wasn't actually Dr. John, but an actor playing a role just like me.
"Hannah?" he closed the book and slotted it into his backpack.
"Are you even qualified to deliver this baby?" I asked in a meek voice.
"Theoretically," Ty burst into laughter at the sight of my reaction.
"Relax baby immortal, Systems are powerful, omniscient creatures, didn't you know," he winked, then pulled my hair completely out of its ponytail and turned me to face the soldiers whilst tying my hair back up for me.
"So my System thinks Lex is North, so we need to play nice, I noticed things are getting frostier between you and the head honcho over there, can you manage?"
I bit my lip, catching Noah's cold eyes catch me staring, he smirked, then continued talking to the others, his hands going in two directions, I assumed they were deciding between two routes.
"I don't know," I remembered the way his hands had felt around my throat, how I'd done my best to convince him Izzy was dead. Would he really let me go thinking I was giving birth to another man's kid instead? The almost possessive style of loving Hannah in her future scared me to my core.
"I have a plethora of vehicles for you to pick from in my space shall we need a quick exit, I'll suffer sharing my secret if push comes to shove." Ty's hand rested on my shoulder.
I raised my hand to feel how smooth and neat he had tied it, "you do a good job with hair considering your lack of it," I smiled looking at his almost bald neatly trimmed hair.
He poked my nose, "honey, I spent two lifetimes serving royalty, what's a little ponytail?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone