Aang pulled his knife out and cut the rope that kept the boat in port, he could hear the groaning of the walkers as they banged against the chain link fence. It wouldn't hold for much longer, he knew that, he knew he had just minutes to get the boat working before the fence came crashing down and a dozen walkers were free to walk down the port where he wouldn't be able to escape them.

He threw his back pack onto the boat and looked behind him, the fence was beginning to bend, he grabbed the half full canister of fuel and jumped onto the boat as the light current began to pull it away from the stone walls that held up the pier. The boat he had chosen was rather new, and quite large, but it seemed to have been damage as people came to the port to flee the outbreak on their own boats.

Aang walked down the three steps into the cabin of the boat and placed his back pack on the table. he walked behind the stairs and opened a small hatch in the floor that lead into the tiny room that allowed access to the engines, he opened a small compartment and began pouring the fuel into the boat, he flicked an override switch that allowed him to start the engines with out a key and heard the boat come to life.

He climbed back out of the cabin and saw the fence had fallen and the zombies were only meters from the edge of the pier where the boat was previously tied, he was still close enough that they could stumble off the pier and land on the boat. He quickly climbed up the ladder that lead to the steering wheel and began maneuvering the boat out of the port in the direction of the beach house. He heard the engine struggling below him and then understood why the boat hadn't been stolen like most of the others, it would require work when he returned to the beach.

It was still dark out, 5am as it said on his watch. The others would wake up when he got close, the sound of the struggling engine drawing close to shore would be enough to wake anyone up. Aang wasn't sure how exactly he would get the boat onto land, he didn't want to damage it more by driving it up onto the sand, but there was a small channel a hundred meters or so from the beach house that lead inland, there were tiny piers generally used for small fishing boats, nothing like the size of the boat Aang had found. it was 15 meters in length, with a two bedroom cabin and a kitchen. Aang moved past the house and down the beach, he saw the small door they had created in one of the upstairs bedroom windows open and Zuko stepped out onto the roof.

Aang turned into the channel and stopped in the middle, there was a meter between the edge of the boat and the wooden pier, and the edge of the boat was two meters higher. Aang grabbed his backpack off the deck and threw it onto the pier, he then jumped onto the pier, only just making the distance and injuring his left leg in the process. He was able to walk but could feel the pain increasing as he made his way up the steps and onto the sand that would lead him to the beach house.

He limped along the coast, his deagle in his right hand, his left hand holding his injured leg, he could see Zuko and Mai standing outside the house, Ty Lee was on the roof, Zuko's fal in hand. Over the two months they had been staying at the house Ty lee had become quite good with the high powered weapon, Mai preferred the combat knife Zuko had given her on the day she arrived, she had used it on a few Zombies when they made their run into town, she was quick, went only for the brain, and effectively killed the zombie in a quick and easy stab.

Zuko began walking towards Aang, his colt in his hand, Mai stayed at the house, Aang could see her moving her head from side to side, Mai was always being sure to keep her eyes peeled for any movement.

As soon as Zuko was close enough to see it was Aang he held up a hand to keep Ty from firing and jogged over to help his brother. "What did you do?" Zuko said, referring to his leg as well as the boat.

"We had been talking about getting a boat for weeks, I took the initiative and went and got us one." Aang said as Zuko helped him walk back to the house.

"You went alone? With out telling anyone?" Zuko said, his worry for his brother clouding the realization that they had a way of getting off the land if they needed.

"I told Ty lee." Aang said, "Dont be mad with her, she swore she wouldn't tell anyone unless i wasn't back by 5:30"

"Fine." Zuko sighed, "What about your leg?" They were meters from the front door.

"I stopped the boat down in the channel, i had to jump onto the pier and the impact hurt my leg."

Mai had joined them and had put two and two together, "Did you run into any trouble?"

Aang chuckled, "You could say that." They took him into the house and he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, he could see the sun rising through the open door. "The port is over run, there are dozens of walkers down there, but i managed to get the best boat i could."

"How is it?" Zuko asked, he took a water bottle out of the cupboard and passed it to Aang, they had began storing supplies through out the house so that they wouldn't have to walk as far for simple items.

"The engine is horrible, its going to require a fair bit of work."

Zuko nodded, after hearing the boat on its way past he figured as much, "And fuel?"

Aang readjusted his position so his leg was resting on another chair. "There is a large tank filled with fuel down at the port, i filled a canister with what i could, but we will have to go back and get a few barrels full or something."

"Mai and I could head out after lunch, while you and Ty see what you can do with the boat." Zuko thought out loud.

"Aang said it was over run, would that be best?" Mai asked, Ty had climbed down the ladder and joined them.

Zuko looked to Aang for his answer, "There were a few dozen walking around, shooting will probably alert more, and they were huddled together like a pack, or a herd, Mai wouldn't be able to get close enough to take them out one by one."

"Then it will be something we leave for now." Zuko sighed, and got his own bottle of water, he had been up for the last few hours keeping watch.

A few days had passed since Aang had taken the boat, and they had spent most afternoons repairing the engine while Ty Lee and Aang went on trips back into the tiny local towns, looking for supplies, they came across a few zombies here and there, but they were generally safe, the infection destroyed the unaware towns in the first few days, no one truely understood how, everything happened too quickly.

"Stay low." Aang said pointing to a small corner store, there was movement inside.

Ty lee ducked down behind a car that had crashed into a light pole and scanned the area, there was a car parked across the street, and the boot was open. She could hear movement in the building across from her, but she couldnt see anything.

Aang crouched beside her and pulled his deagle out from the back of his pants and looked around, it was the late afternoon and the sun cast shadows across the road. They waited for a while, Ty lee had become distracted and was watching the shadows more so than the building with the movement. Aang was sure they were still alive, a walker would have stopped moving or stumbled out by now.

The four wheel drive seemed to have a couple boxes already stacked in the back as finally a man stepped out of the chemist, a shot gun strapped to his back and a knife strapped to his chest, moments later a girl stepped out, both seemed to be in their early twenties, she had a carbine rifle in one hand, and was carrying a back pack in the other.

"What do we do?" Ty lee whispered to Aang, her only weapon being an old revolver she found in her father's desk, she only had 3 rounds left, and wasn't used to the single handed weapon after learning to use Zuko's fal.

Aang moved behind the car a little more, keeping out of their view, it was dark now but he still had to be sure. "We let them pass, and pick up anything they have left behind." Aang looked to Ty and saw she was slightly shaking. "We are out gunned and dont know if there are any more of them, we just have to do what we can."

A dirt bike roared to life somewhere else in the city and the two in the street looked towards it, Aang could barely make out what they were saying, but it seemed as though they were going to meet up with the other person.

The bike got closer, Aang could hear exactly where it was now, about a hundred meters ahead of them, behind the chemist where the man and woman were loading their findings into the car.

"Ty, we need to move soon. That bike is going to wake the dead." Aang sighed, he could hear movement behind him, and turned to see a single walker, a fair distance away, crawling towards him.

As they began to creep away, back towards the field where they had left the car, they heard a single gun shot.

Aang knew it wasn't a shot gun shell, or a carbine rifle that wizzed past the car they were hiding behind and killed the zombie. The shot was from a bolt action hunting rifle.

The bike skidded around the corner as the driver fell off just out side the drug store, the bike continued skidding along the concrete. He quickly scurried out of the way as a massive Jeep came around the same corner. It stopped beside the car as the first guy pulled out his shot gun. before he could take aim another guy climbed out of the jeep and aimed his gun at the man who was riding the bike. "Drop it or he dies." He yelled. He dropped the shot gun, and the girl did the same with her rifle.

Aang could see the sniper now, he was on the second floor of an apartment building a few streets down, the shot had been fired through an alley way and meant he had vision on Aang and Ty lee if they moved any further.

"You kids are going to listen, or you are going to die." The raider spoke up, he had his own shot gun in hand, and a few more men were standing beside him. "Unload your car, I want everything out on the street."

The girl moved first, she opened the back door of the car and began pulling out bags. The guys were a little more hesitant but did the same.

"Ty" Aang whispered getting her attention. "We need to help them."

"Aang, are you crazy?"

Aang looked at her, "We have to Ty, we cant let raiders rule the world now that their is no laws."

Ty lee sighed, "Always trying to do good. Okay Aang, I'm in, what do we do?"

Aang had managed to get a way from the car whilst the sniper was taking out walkers to their far left, he was sneaking behind building to building until he found himself in an alley to the right of what was happening in the street, he was in one of the sniper's many blind spots and had a good view of the three raiders in the middle of the road. He could no longer see Ty lee, but there weren't any gun shots to make him believe she was dead.

He aimed his deagle at the man giving orders, cut off the head of the snake and the body dies with it. He took a single shot, the bullet crashed through the mans skull and splattered on the man behind him, distracting him long enough for the girl to pick up the shot gun and shoot him in the chest while the third guy was looking for Aang.

The girl shot again, killing the other man and leaving only the sniper who would by now be certainly killing anyone he could find. Aang ran out of the alley towards the group, and again in another of the sniper's blind spots.

He held his hands in the air slightly. "It's okay, I wont shoot." Aang called, it was then he noticed that the bike rider was bleeding from the leg. "Is he okay?"

The girl spoke up, "It looks bad, we don't know how to treat it."

"I have a friend across the street who can help you." Aang started, "But she is pinned down by the sniper around the corner, get your friend to her, but I will need help taking the sniper down."

"Sokka will go with you, I need to get Hahn out of here." The girl spoke and began helping him into the alley Aang had taken the shot from.

Aang shook Sokka's hand quickly, "Any military experience?" He asked as he bent down to pick up an m4 from one of the dead raiders.

"I went hunting a bit when i was younger, i can shoot." Sokka replied as Aang passed him a pistol, "I just struggle dealing with the pressure that comes with all this crap."

Aang checked the clip on the m4, "It's something that comes with practice, ever killed a living one?"

"A human?" Sokka asked, they had started walking down a street, hugging the wall.

Aang peeked around the corner, "Yeah, a human."

"We haven't needed to, today was the first time we have come across someone in a few weeks."

Aang could see the sniper laying on a balcony across the street, his eyes were scanning the streets but if they could get across the road they would be in his final blind spot. "Probably for the best." Aang could see the tip of the rifle poking off the edge of the balcony. "Thats an old bolt action rifle, mostly used in hunting." He paused and looked at the wooden supports that held up the balcony. "We could potentially climb those and sneak up on him."

"You think that would be best?" Sokka asked, he heard a walker in the building behind him and stepped away slightly.

Aang noticed the slight fear that danced across his face quickly, "On second thought maybe not." Aang looked back at the balcony, "You think he's alone?"

"Why wouldn't he be, we haven't seen anyone else." Sokka questioned.

Aang chuckled, "You didn't see the raiders coming, or me watching you from across the street."

"Good point, yeah I think he's alone, if he had back up he probably would have booked it by now." Sokka looked around the small street, "He's probably just as scared as we are."

"He's also going to kill us if he sees us, keep that in mind."

Sokka gulped and nodded.

"We need to get to her Hahn, you're not dying today." Toph muttered to him, "Come on Hahn, move." She was slowly dragging him down an Alley.

"Toph stop, i cant keep going." Hahn pulled away from her grasp and lent against a wall.

She squatted down beside him, "You have one minute Hahn, don't die on me."

She heard the sound of an automatic rifle being fired and then silence. "You think that was Sokka and that guy?"

"I hope it was them and not someone else, come on, we need to get moving." Toph pulled out a revolver she had taken from the dead raiders and continued walking with Hahn, as they rounded the corner a girl quickly ran to them.

Toph pointed the revolver at her but couldn't find the words to tell her to stop, instead it was Hahn that spoke up. "Who are you?"

"Ty lee." She answered quickly, "Have you seen Aang?"

"The guy who killed the raiders?" Hahn asked, Toph could hear the pain in his voice.

Ty Lee nodded, "Him." She looked down at Hahn's leg, "Oh my, are you okay?" She ran to him and bent down to look at his leg, "This needs to be cleaned right away. Come with me." Ty lee took him into one of the buildings she had cleared with Aang before they saw Sokka inside the drug store.

Toph helped Hahn onto a counter top in an old corner store and began looking through a first aid kit that was half falling off the wall.

"We need to find something to cover his mouth, we cant afford to alert anything else while we clean it out." Ty lee said pulling a bottle of purified alcohol out of her back back, as well as a few rags and a small knife.

Toph grabbed a t-shirt that was hanging in the back and tore off a sleeve, she wrapped it into a ball, and passed it to Hahn so he could put it in his mouth. "You're going to be okay Hahn."

Hahn gave her a crooked smile before sticking the ball of cloth into his mouth and biting down. Ty lee cut a hole into Hahn's pants around where the blood was coming from, exposing the gashes in his upper leg.

Ty lee squirmed slightly at the sight of blood but kept her cool, she had learnt a lot of the basic things needed to be a doctor before everything had happened, when she was just one of nine kids and had to look after her younger siblings. She took dozens of first aid courses just to make sure that if anything happened she could save them.

"Did Aang say where he was going?" Ty lee asked, trying to take everyone's attention away from Hahn's leg. As well as to distract Hahn so he wouldn't notice when she poured the alcohol onto a rag and began dabbing it on the open wounds.

Toph felt ill at the sound of her friend's tourmented screams but answered, "He went with Sokka to kill the sniper."

Ty lee gulped, she never liked the idea of having to kill, she only wanted to save. "Well I hope he will be back soon." She used the knife to remove a piece of rock that had gotten stuck in one of the cuts. "Where have you guys been staying?"

"I'm sure you would understand, but I think its best we kept that to ourselves." Toph answered, not wanting to give away any information that could lead to their death.

Ty lee looked hurt, Toph noticed that about her, anything that she didn't expect seemed to bring her discomfort, "I guess that is understandable." Ty lee replied, her voice much softer than before.

Toph sighed, "We spent a few months down at an abandoned train station, it provided good shelter for a while, but it didn't last when we were discovered by a group of raiders, we lost someone that day, someone important to us."

Toph held Hahn's hand as they thought about their fallen friend. In the distance they heard more gun fire, automatic weapons mostly, but there were a few louder weapons.

They had been wrong, so very wrong.

The raiders had been using the apartment building as an outpost of sorts, as soon as they entered the lobby they were ambushed, men and women swarmed them from all directions, shouting things, throwing rubble, and as soon as they had them tied down, laughing and tormenting.

They had them tied to separate pillars on separate sides of the room, all their equipment was put in a pile and their leader searched through it. There was a camp fire in the middle of the room, it wasn't lit but there were scorch marks along the roof from where the smoke had tried to escape, in a way it reminded of them of their own situation, trapped in a room with a bunch of fools who spent too much time trying to prove to one another who was a better leader, than putting their heads together and finding a way to live peacefully.

Aang could feel a splint of wood pressing against his back from where he guessed they had removed part of the pillar for fire wood, he could feel the splint grinding against the ropes that bound his hands.

"Get that door open." He heard the leader shout for what seemed like the tenth time as he rummaged through another pile of supplies that were scattered around the room. Aang was unsure what door they could be talking about, but was glad that it had most of the raiders distracted at the back of the large room.

Aang could no longer see Sokka, but he knew he was on the other side of the room, tied to his own pillar. As he continued to cut the ropes with the splint of wood he looked around, there was a singular hand gun a few feet from where he was sitting, in another pile of junk.

Aang heard the leader stomp towards the back of the room, and noticed that no one was looking at him. He finally cut through the rope and reached for the gun, he grabbed it and placed his hands behind his back, like he had never removed the rope.

He waited until the leader returned to the middle of the room, and then made his move. "Excuse me." He called out, his voice was soft, like it was surrendering in fear. The leader looked at him, his black eyes looking into Aang like he was trying to read him. "My ropes are too tight, would you mind loosening them?"

The leader scoffed and threw the plank of wood he was looking at across the room. "You barge into my home, and then act as though you deserve kindness?" The leader began walking towards him, cracking his knuckles in the process. As soon as he was close enough he placed his hand on Aang's forehead, holding it against the pillar. He reached back with his other arm, preparing to strike.

In an instant Aang removed his hands from behind him, placed the gun at the bottom of the leaders jaw and fired, shooting straight through his head. Aang watched every head in the room turn towards him as he stood up and threw the dead body onto the floor. The only other person in the room holding a gun was standing directly in front of him and he fired two bullets at him, the first missing but the second hitting him in the chest.

Chaos erupted, Aang barely had time to retrieve his m4 from the dead leader and to get back behind the pillar before the raiders were firing at him. He could feel the impact of automatic weapons firing against the thick pillar, heard them reach the metal center.

He waited until it was quiet, until everyone stopped firing and then reached around the corner and blindly fired half a clip. he heard the grown of someone and realized that he had managed to hit someone. He then crouched down, and poked his head around the corner when he fired, shooting another two people and getting back behind the pillar before they managed to shoot back.

There were only five other raiders in the room, and Aang hadnt heard any movement upstairs to signify that there were others, the sniper had come down when they first entered the building, he was the second person Aang killed.

By now Sokka had managed to squirm his way out of the ropes and picked up a rock, he threw it at the raider who was standing a few meters away from him, hiding behind his own pillar. As the rock impacted against his head Sokka ran to him, picking him up and slamming him against a spiked piece of wood higher up on the other pillar, the wood went through his back and he dropped his m14 as soon as Sokka let him go. The pillar provided Sokka with enough cover from the others that he was able to knock the raider out, and pick up his weapon without being hit.

As the raiders had turned their attention to Sokka, Aang rolled out from behind his pillar and got behind the half broken fountain that was beside the camp fire. He shot the last of his bullets into the chest of two more raiders, and then used the hand gun to shoot another.

Sokka stepped out from behind his own pillar, and fired. His bullet was matched with a single shot scrapping across his upper arm before he managed to fire again and killed the final raider.

"How the hell did you do that?" Sokka called to Aang, his heart was beating so quickly it practically rang in his ears.

Aang grabbed another m4 clip from a dead raider, "I spent three years in Afghanistan, and two in Iraq, before that i was a boy scout from the time i turned six, until i was old enough to join the reserves."

"Millitary family?" Sokka asked putting it all together.

"My father was General Ozai." Aang replied, "My uncle was General Iroh."

Sokka remembered the names from his history class, "Generals in the hundred year war?" Aang nodded, "Damn, those guys were legends of the resistance wars."

"I know, my father never let me forget." Aang opened a crate that was filled with ammo, "I was on leave when everything started, took a bullet to the stomach, discharged for 12 months."

"I would guess your rather didnt like that?"

"If he could get through fourteen years of being a foot soldier, and twenty years of being a general with out being shot, his son being discharged for injury after five years, brought him a lot of disappointment." Aang began filling mags with m4 rounds. "You should have heard him when my brother left the army to go study. He yelled about it for weeks, from the day he got home from Iraq, until the day he left for college a month later."

Sokka joined Aang at the crate and found Ammo that he knew he needed. "Is your brother still around?"

Aang looked up from what he was doing when he heard the fear in Sokka's voice, "He's alive, back at our camp."

Sokka let out a sigh of relief, worried he had asked the wrong question. "We should really get back soon, Hahn was in bad shape."

"I just want to look around this place a little more, its rare to come across so much valuable stuff in one place." Aang replied, he used the strap on the gun to hang it on his back and then picked up a pump action shot gun from the floor. "Coming?" Aang asked gesturing to the stairs that lead to the second floor where all the rooms where.

Sokka grabbed the m14 and followed Aang.

"He's going to need time to heal, he shouldnt run while his stiches are in, but after a week or so they should be safe to cut out." Ty Lee placed her needle back into her medical pouch and helped Hahn sit up.

"Thank you." Toph spoke for her friend, "I dont know what we would have done without you."

Ty placed the pouch into her back back and sat beside Hahn, her hands covered in blood. "It's quite okay, though Aang may want something in return." she attempted to read the reactions on their face, "He wont expect much, an exchange or resources for the what we used to help you."

"Sounds reasonable, what would he want?" Hahn replied, minimal pain in his tone.

Ty lee shrugged, "Ammo, your own medical supplies, food, fuel, tools. I dont know, what ever you dont need, but we may."

Toph turned to the sound of the door opening behind her, Aang stepped in first, a duffle bag slung over one shoulder and an assault rifle in his hand, Sokka stepped in behind him, his own duffle bag hanging from his right arm. "They dont owe us anything, Sokka's help was more than enough to repay the ammo spent saving them." Aang placed the bag down on the counter and embraced Ty.

"We heard the shots, we were worried" Ty Lee let him go and looked to the bag, "What'd you find?"

Aang unzipped the bag, "Mostly ammo, a few guns and the bolt action rifle." Ty Lee smiled, he turned to Sokka. "Bring me that map you found." Aang said and cleared some space on the counter. Sokka handed Aang the map and after he studied it for a few moments he placed the map down and highlighted an area with a marker from his pocket. "This is where we are, but we wont be there for long." Aang looked at each member of Sokka's group. "You have all proven yourself, we have a hide out on the beach, the walkers have started getting ready, but once we are finished repairing the boat we took we will be moving out, looking for somewhere safer." He looked to Ty lee for her opinion and saw the approving smile. "Your group, you're welcome to join us, just choose before we leave."

Sokka looked at the map, seeing the location was only a few miles away. "You're sure?" Aang nodded.

Toph stepped forward, "Listen Aang, we would love to. But we owe a debt." Sokka sighed, "The day we lost our friend, we were saved by this group, this-"

"They are basically raiders" Hahn muttered, pain on his tongue.

Toph nodded, "Basically, They never let us go out together whilst we loot, they enforce one of us stay behind at all times, to ensure we return." She lent against the counter. "It's not all bad though, there are walls, and they feed us, so long as we pull our own weight while looting."

"This, 'group'" Aang started, using quotation marks, "How big is it?"

Toph looked to Hahn who nodded, then to Sokka who shrugged and looked away. "About two dozen in total." Toph muttered, it was clear to Aang that they were scared to talk about it."

"And are they good people?"

"No" Sokka said imediately, turning back to face Aang.

Toph gave him a look of pity then looked Aang in the eye. "Their leader, saved us, I dont understand why but he could have left us." Toph looked back to Sokka, "A week later a member of the main raiding party assulted Sokka's sister, and their leader refused to do anything about it."

"Thats rough", Aang stated, knowing full well that it wasn't the only thing they had against their leader.

"Can you sneak out, any chance you can get away?" Ty lee asked, worried for their new friends.

"There are patrols on each wall, the camp is small, everyone sleeps in one warehouse, we will be seen." Sokka answered.

"What access do you have to weapons while within the walls?" Aang asked, ready to formulate a plan.

"None, all weapons are confiscated at the gate and kept in the leader's office above the factory floor." Toph replied.

"Mark the location on the map."

Again Toph looked to the others for approval and then took the marker from Aang and drew a circle around a factory that stood away from any other man made structures. "Is there anywhere someone from the outside could get a vantage point, to take out the guardsmen?"

"There is a hill, about 200 feet from the north wall." Sokka recalled, "It's covered in shrubbery, you could shoot from there."

"That wouldn't do to get us out though." Hahn stated, with Ty Lee's aid he was able to get himself into a rough sitting position. "Killing our men will only put everyone in a panic, we couldn't get out during that."

Aang lent against the counter beside toph. "Do any of you ever go on guard duty?"

"They frequently put Sokka on the East wall, almost nightly, a punishment for him standing up for his sister." Toph replied and again the resentment returned to Sokka's eyes.

"That's perfect." Aang smiled, "From the hill I can take out the guard along the north wall. Sokka can then alert the men inside, leaving the North and East walls unguarded. With so much unmanned area my brother and I can push up to the wall, as they step through the gate to find the sniper, we will quickly take care of them, while Sokka uses the distraction to get inside the factory and get the rest of you out, killing anyone who gets in your way. By the end of it, we'll meet just outside the gate."

Sokka mewled over the plan, "That could work, but there is a lot of risk." He tapped his forhead for a few moments. "The entire east wall will be essentially blind to them as I wont report you coming, You and your brother could sneak upto the wall, with a boost from him and my help I could get you over the wall and into the compound, bring with you a few guns and by the time my replacement comes to take my place we could have cleared out all the sentries on the walls, with no one to take my gun off me I could easily get back to the others with it, and together we could continue taking out anyone in our way."

Aang nodded, a small smile on his lips, "You have a talent for these things?" Sokka shrugged, "I will have to speak with my brother, though I dont see while he will disagree." He looked to Ty lee who was visably worried. "Meet here." Aang placed a cross on the map, in a clearing a mile away from the beach, "Tomorrow at 3pm if you're willing to go ahead with the plan, I will be there, my brother with me and we can discuss further."

Again Aang and Sokka shook hands, "Thank you Aang, finally something to put my hope towards."

Ok, so I'm kinda back I guess, don't expect all that frequent updates, but just know Im investing time in writing again -

Princezuko3