"Doc, git 'im up, now!"

The hammer clicked back on the .45 revolver which was being pointed at an old African-American man wearing a white smock, which could hardly be considered white any longer as dirty and blood-stained as it was.

The man holding the gun towered a foot and a half over the 5'11" doctor and barked another order, "Ah said, git 'im up! We hafta be gittin' outta 'ere, Doc. We can't have no dead weight."

"Dead weight? If I give him a shot of adrenaline now, he could die!" The doctors brown eyes burned into the pale blue eyes of the gunman in anger, "I won't have anyone else dying!"

A diminutive brunette who had been standing in the doorway for the entire exchange entered the fray, "Bart, put your gun away. We need the doctor. Matt, give him the shot. If.."

Matt cut her off, "Did you hear me if I do it now he'll.."

"Doctor Greene! If you don't hurry we could all die. The gangs are burning everything down to get to all of us. We either leave him or he walks out of here. We're gonna need every man, woman, and child to fight our way out of here. We can't spare two to carry one."

Matt's head dropped, "Sam, his injuries aren't fully healed. If I force him awake he could go into cardiac arrest and die." He looked back to the woman's eyes, silently pleading.

"We have to leave him if you don't. He'll either die now, or the gangs will kill him. We could use an extra gun, so I'd rather take the chance. Do it."

Matt knew times were desperate and that this man was not likely to survive anyway. He had been supprised when he was travelling with the groups away from Denver months ago and saw the man all by himself along the highway. He could swear that before the man fell unconcious that their eyes connected. Being the only doctor around, the people had need of him, and when he said they had to bring the unconcious man with them or he would walk away forever, they agreed. Times hadn't changed much, except in seven months the gangs became worse and spread out more, wrecking havoc on any last vestiges of civilization left. It was time to run again, since the people of the small town were outnumbered three to one, and this time they were less reliant on Matt. The newly forming Hell they were forced to survive in was making everyone tougher. However it was also making them less patient and forgiving.

The doctor went to his medical bag and took out his vial of adrenaline. He also removed a fresh needle from it's sterile packaging, wishing he had more sterile needles than the few he had left. After attaching the needle to the suringe he plunged it into the vial and drew out a measure of adrenaline. After he drew enough, he pulled it out of the tiny container and expertly flicked the needle with his fingers to clear any air bubbles from the tube. He looked once more at Bart then Sam. Sam nodded at him, with no expression on her face.

Matt took a deep breath and headed over to the man laying in the bed. This was the man he had found so many months ago. He had kept the man alive all this time as though it was his own son. That's why this was going to hurt so much more. The unconcious man was bare-chested except for bandages in various spots to protect the still-healing burned skin on his body. Matt placed his wrinkled hand on the man's chest, making sure he knew exactly where his heart was located. Having found what he was looking for, he didn't hesitate a second and suddenly stabbed the needle into the man's chest, and emptied the suringe into the heart. As swiftly as he had placed it in, he drew the needle out. An eternity passed for everyone in the room.

The man on the bed's eyes openned suddenly and he began yelling at the top of his lungs, his eyes darting back and forth across the three others in the room. He quickly sat up, receeding with his back against the wall at the head of his bed. The man's burst of energy was gradually fading when he asked, "Who are you? Where am I?"

Matt breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the man, "I'm Dr. Matthew Greene. And you friend, you're in the land of the living. What is your name?"

The mans rapid breathing was beginning to slow and he quietly said, "I don't know. I still don't know."

He could feel the heat all around him. It was an unbearable heat that while it didn't scorch his skin it made sweat from all his pores. But fear then gripped his mind as it raced to the only reason that would be: fire.

Fire was all around him. He knew he would die. Somehow he knew could not possibly survive what was about to happen. However as he looked down at himself, he was not burning. The fires rages all around him, but never got closer than a few inches to his body. He was protected by something he did not and could not understand.

Calmness now overtook the fear and finally moved into curiosity. Looking forward through the flames, there was a silloutte dancing through the haze of heat in the distance. An explosion. The shadow grew in size and raced toward him. Suddenly he felt out of control and almost like he was viewing it all from the outside.

He watched his arms raise into the air, fingertips pointed toward the burning skies above. He viewed his mouth open and a roar rushed forward from his lips. He was screaming. Why is he screaming? What is going on?

The 'barrier' between the man and the fire increased in size from inches to feet. As the shockwave from the explosion neared, the man's eyes burned with a white light that grew it's brightest when the tidal wave of fire crashed into him.

The man's eyes shot open and all he saw then was cloudy skies, the suns rays stifled by nearby cloud-cover. He glanced around quickly, looking for flames. As he sat up all he saw around him was a charred wasteland of what once was likely a city or town. It looked as though a hurricane had torn the land apart and left a scorched mark of the wonderful town that once was.

He got up to to his knees and tried to take in everything. Soot fell off of his head and got into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. He tried to wipe the ashes from his eyes with a dirty hand, realizing how futile the action was and irritating his eyes further. He began to rise to his feet and questions rose in his mind.

Where am I? What happened?

He didn't have an answer. Then panic overtook confusion and he asked the most important question: Who am I?!

It felt like an eternity passed before he realized he didn't have the answer.