As Claire began to show signs of trusting him, Jack felt his heart rate go back to normal. Chris was missing, but he likely was still alive. And the others.. She was smart to be suspicious, but at the same time their help might mean the difference between finding Chris dead or alive - if at all.
"We'll keep an eye on them. They seem like decent people, but.. They're still strangers. But they're strangers who may just be able to find Chris," he paused, considering another possibility. The bandits that Matt's group had just killed.. Perhaps those weren't all of them? Perhaps others in the group that were out hunting came back, found Chris, put two and two together and took him? Jack shook the speculation away for now, as Matt came upon the clearing followed by two others. With his trained eye, Matt found more in the crime scene than Jack ever could.

He turned his attentions to the two others, a man and a woman both looking in their twenties, as he started to map out a course of action for the group. "We're looking for a member of our group, a boy named Chris," he began to describe what he knew about the kid, before remembering that he had only met him and his sister no more than two hours ago. Still, it was enough to go on.
"If you could help us, that'd mean a lot. And if we're gonna be tracking together, we should probably at least know each other's names, huh? I'm Jack."

Claire looked around slowly at all the people. Could they really help find Chris? Or was it all just a ploy? How could she be sure? She felt so unsafe and scared that she didn't know anymore. No she had to be confident right now. She had to stay strong if she wanted to find Chris. She slowly put the gun into her back pack and slung it over her body as she stood up. She looked at the people as Jack introduced himself, but didn't say a word. This was partially out of habit though since Chris usually did most of the talking at first. She looked all of them over though. Matt was definitely the strongest out of their group and the one she would probably be scared of the most since she didn't trust any of them. The woman wasn't nearly as impressive, but she had to give her crdit, despite the world they were in she looked nice, and her eyes especially. That's what Claire looked for in a person mostly. On the other hand the guy next to her wasn't all that good either. There was just something about Matt that just made these two seem less threatening, but she was sure they were very capable people or else Matt wouldn't have them tagging along, though she could be wrong about that.

Hmmm, seems like he wants to play nice and help out. I can work with that.
Matt thought as Travis joined him.
"Before we do anything further, we need to sort out the supplies down at the camp and get moving before the Walkers show up."
He replied, chewing the bottom corner of his lip in thought.
"We need to get at least two vehicles, load them up and head out. Myself and one other can follow the tracks on foot for a while, see where they head."
He knelt to examine some bent and broken branches from the little oak and maple saplings that dotted the ground around the clearing.
"I'm Matt, this is Shan and Travis."
He replied, standing to offer Jack a firm handshake.

Jack took Matt's hand in a firm handshake - something he excelled at due to his now useless profession - as he listened to the soldier's instructions. Looking over, he saw Claire tentatively put away her gun, a good sign. Then, Matt introduced the others in the group, and Jack felt an incredible feeling of déjà vu. Momentarily unable to place it, he suddenly recalled a passage from the only piece of literature he possessed.

We made it back from the supply run alive. Rusty, Izzy, myself and Olive - turns out the kid can hold her own out there, perhaps better than some of the adults - found a reasonable supply, as well as seven survivors. Four were holed up inside of a gas station, within the city. Two men, both tall, I've forgotten their names quite honestly, but I'll make it a point to re-introduce myself tomorrow morning. In addition, there were two others - a guy and girl in their twenties or so. The boy was a hot-head, nearly started a gunfight, though.. I suppose we weren't all that friendly initially, either. Finally we got him to put down the gun; he introduced himself as Travis. He was traveling with a girl, she's mute, and appears not nearly as apt to jump to a fight as Travis. He called her Shan. All four of them came back with us..

His surprise was visible on his face following Matt's introduction. In fact.. That group - Desmond's - they had a fellow named Matt. Matt Shelton - a soldier. Was it possible that..? No, he put his curious mind to rest. He had seen Shan speak, just a minute or two ago. And Travis didn't seem all that hot-blooded. Besides, they were miles and miles away from where he had found Desmond's body. It was more than likely a coincidence, and there were better things to do - like finding Chris.
"Claire and I can take the truck along the road. We can use my cabin as a rally point after we secure the supplies - it was the welcome center, you probably saw it from the entrance if you came that way," he added.

LATER THAT DAY

"Yeah, this is them."
Matt whispered, watching the small camp through his rifle's scope.
The newly united group of survivors had loaded the supplies from the campground into a pair of vehicles a couple hours earlier and followed the occasionally scant trail left by the kidnappers. They'd found signs of their activity outside a little motel in the quaint hamlet of Mineral, a few miles from Mt Rainier and largely cleared of the walking dead it seemed. The kidnappers had turned the parking lot of the hotel into a prison yard, parking several tractor trailers there as a barrier against outside aggression as well as using the trailers as holding cells.

As Matt watched, it became apparent that the group had captured a total of about a dozen other survivors, themselves numbering only ten. They were equipped and dressed quite well, having stripped their victims of any equipment and most of their clothing. He watched them for a solid half hour, only briefing witnessing Jack as get forced into a trailer with several other captured survivors. As the day progressed, Matt watched as the captives were used for slave labor, tending gardens, building defenses and clearing rubble. At one point, a team of slaves and a guard went out into the surrounding parts of the town to scavenge for supplies. It was quite obvious the group weren't just raiders or kidnappers, they were slavers. A tragic but not surprising sight in the post apocalyptic remains of humanity.

At nightfall, Matt reported his findings back to the others of the group and began laying out a plan of attack. He scribbled a map into the dirt on the side of the road, gesturing to different spots to illustrate the plan.
"We'll wait until the scavenging team goes out tomorrow and ambush the guard, try to take him hostage and interrogate him, if not, we'll try to get some answers out of the slaves and see if we can get them to join the fight. We'll hide in the buildings around the hotel while one of us sits up where I was earlier with that hunting rifle we got from the campground and hits them with sniper fire. He'll have a partner to watch his back of course. He'll knock out the sentries around the camp, two on the walls and one on the rooftop. Once they're down, we'll sprint up and slide under the trucks then wait for the others to come investigate. If they're already outside, we'll cut them down before they can run, if not we'll just roll with the punches and try to keep them pinned down while we release and arm the other slaves. Once that's done and all the slavers outside are dead, we'll surround the hotel and offer anyone inside a chance to surrender. If they take it, fine, if not we'll burn 'em out with Molotov cocktails, assuming there's no kids or hostages or whatever inside the motel. If there is, we'll have to clear it room by room and we WILL lose some people."
Dropping the stick into the dust he rested his hands on the stock of his M16.
"Questions? Comments?"
He asked of the motley crew.

Travis stared at Matt, taking in the fact that one of the scenarios involved losing people. He then glanced to Shan's tearful face, and frowned, "I only have one comment. We need a meeting place, for afterward...or we at least need a safe job for some...", he explained, giving Matt a look that he knew he would understand. He didn't want Shan involved. She had done enough, and had saved their asses back at the camp. She deserved safety, "I can't run as fast as I used to, but I can damn sure do more than this one..."

Shan slapped him sharply on the chest, turning to Matt with pleading eyes, "I'm fine...I'll be fine. I'm smaller than all of you. I'm quiet, and I can do anything you can do...", she signed frantically, shoving Travis off as he attempted to shove her arms down to stop her words, "I love you...and this is important...", she finished, backhanding Travis in the face. She placed her hands back into her lap and looked around at the others, before giving the most definite stare to Matt's eyes.

"If all goes according to plan, the meeting point will be atop the hill of bullet riddled bodies we create. If things break down, we'll meet back at the vehicles."
He then signed to Shan slowly, "I don't want you too close to the fighting. But we do need every shooter in the fight..."
He paused in thought for a moment.
"I don't trust any of the others enough to watch your back so you'll come with me into the fight. But I expect you to hang back a little and not do anything too risky. You can lead all the slaves that can't fight back to safety."
He finished, dropping his hands to his sides.
"Okay, Jack, if you think you're up to it, I'd like you to take the rifle and give us sniper cover. Claire can watch your back. Once their sentries are down and you've done all you can do, you guys will jog down and join us. I'll lead the tip of the spear on the actual attack. So that leaves me, Shan, Travis and James for the main attack. We've got plenty of time until tomorrow, so let's find somewhere secluded to make our camp and I'll give you guys a crash course in guerilla warfare and small unit tactics."

Jack had been unusually quiet for the rest of the day while the group planned, watching each member of their new-founded crew with the trained eye of a veteran observer. Chris was still his top priority, but the nagging feeling that he knew these people kept popping back up. It was as if he had grown up being read a fairytale, and now the characters were before him. Desmond's journal had been his only comfort the past few months.. Perhaps he was simply going crazy? No, no.. He had seen crazy. If anything, he was much too sane. He had no mental occlusion to shield him from the brunt of reality. Back in the present, he listened as Matt laid out the plan. The guy was a good leader, he could give him that. Conversely, Jack was more than a bit rusty after being alone for so long. But on the other hand, so far he had only seen Matt during - or right before - combat operations. Perhaps he was different when not in the heat of the moment? When it didn't involve guns or a tangible enemy? He would have to see.

"I can do that," he nodded, fairly confident in his ability to handle a rifle, before looking around at the area surrounding the Slaver camp. Mineral was such a small town that Jack - formerly Congressman Marino - had never even heard of it. And from the look of the area, there wasn't much in the town itself that would serve as a good camp for the night. However as he looked, he noted one building with a particularly good vantage point, just far enough away so as not to alert the enemy. He gestured toward the two story white building.
"That Post Office over there might be our best bet. I figure we're probably better indoors for the night, since a fire may catch their eyes."

Travis breathed a small sigh of relief at the explanation, but narrowed his eyes, not sure if he wanted Shan away from him just yet. However, she nodded, as if she was hanging onto every word Matt said. Travis couldn't help but feel that he was missing something. He was completely oblivious to the obvious relationship that was right in front of him. Maybe he was just attempting to ignore it, and act like he hadn't lost out…to a rival.

Frowning, he grabbed Shan's arm, and lifted her with some effort from her squatting position. He wrenched her backpack from her shoulders, and shoved her gun into her hands, before shouldering said backpack with a smirk, "You look tired…", he explained.

"I'm fine…", she signed, rolling her eyes. She quickly took her spot beside Matt's side, before the group began their trek across to the post office. It was uneventful enough for her, only a couple of stray and slow walkers followed them up to the door. There wasn't even tension, as Travis pulled his hand back, and shattered a tiny window, causing the walkers to growl lazily and start their move toward the rag tag group. Shan closed her eyes, clinging one hand to Matt's front, and the other hand lay loosely on Travis' back, gaining safety in their dual presence.

"And home awaits, ladies…", Travis chimed, turning back in time to kick a walker away from Shan's side as she stood in front of Matt, her eyes suddenly clenched shut, "Gettin' a little slow in your age, Cap'n. Thought you were takin' care of her…"

Shan rolled her eyes, dragging Matt behind her into the darkness of the post office. Travis simply stood, glaring at the couple as it sunk in more, just how much he had lost her, while he was gone. He followed them in, aiming to survive what promised to be an awkward night...

Claire had sat hugging her knees to her chest the entire time waiting on the captain to do his recon, and even through his plan. She had hardly paid any attention to things ever since Chris was missing. She kept thinking about the past. Swimming in the river at night a few years back, to the look on Chris's face when he found a working bike in a garage. How he always knew how to cheer her up, and how he'd always been there for her no matter what. She'd been trying so hard not to cry anymore though, especially whenever she told herself that she wasn't there for Chris when he needed her.

When the group headed out she followed behind Jack and even reached out to tug at his arm a little to get his attention, but she withdrew her arm before she did that. All she really wanted right now was someone to help her, give her a hug and make her believe everything would be alright. The reality though was that none of that would happen. If she was lucky Chris would be with the slavers, but even so, there was no reason to believe the slaves would survive. As soon as that first shot rang out what was to stop the slavers from killing everyone? Of course she didn't have a military mind like the man who took charge of the group, she wasn't a politician who was used to thinking through everything for their decisions. She was just Claire a sad girl surrounded by people she didn't even know and now a good chance of being without a family. Finally another tear trickled down her face as she followed behind as they got to the post office. Her first mission before any other would hopefully find a room to itself she could huddle up alone in and cry herself to sleep, well unless the group dragged her into another group conversation, but again. She was just a little girl to most of them probably so she doubted that would happen.