John tilted his head to side when the woman threw her arms up, practically begging. "I just proved -- I'm not gonna shoot you." He pointed the rifle at the dead soldier, "I'm not one of them." He was about to further plead his case but the captain took the spotlight, cigar in hand. It reminded John of action movies and video games, things he had missed.
"Only problem is, we lost contact with that area fifteen minutes ago, so you can bet that your friend there isn't going to be the last crazy to come your way." That particular part caught John's attention, it wasn't exactly a pleasing thought.
"Ca-Captain?" James had finally come to, though he still seemed sluggish from the fall. John sighed, glad things were starting to look up. His grip on the rifle slowly eased up. There were two soldiers now, and they were going to be looking out for the survivors. But, even after proving that he was not among the infected, James was immediately shut down from a kick to the groin. It was the same blonde that had accused John of being infected, he was beginning to think she was a real bitch. An understandable bitch, given the stress of the situation.
“Yeah fuck you!” The blonde hissed, and spat at him. “I'm done with the Army. You guys can all go with Captain Crunch if you want, but me and Kahleen will take our chances on the other side of that door!" John could understand why she was so harsh, after all that soldier was going to shoot only moments earlier. The little interaction gave him the time to think about what he wanted to do.
"Nope, fuck that." He had enough of those demons for the moment, he picked up the three magazines at his feet and made his way to the rope. Besides that he knew that getting extra firepower probably wouldn’t do him much good. After all, he wasn’t a trained soldier. One rifle was probably all that he could handle. Right before he gripped the rope, he saw something across the room that stole his attention, rooting him to a standstill. A little girl covered in the blood of one of the deceased, for a second John felt a lump in his throat. Ava? He squinted his eyes. No. The little girl wasn’t her, Ava had red hair and freckles; this girl did not. John felt a pit in his stomach, realizing that he might not see his sister or niece ever again.
John slung the rifle over his back, stuck one of the magazines in his mouth, tossed the other two up at the captain, hoping he would catch them, and then started his ascent. Just like gym class, he thought; each pull upwards was a struggle, causing him to grunt. The only real exercise he had gotten recently was running, it didn’t really help with the upper body. Eventually, after nearly sliding all the way back down, John reached the top. He took the magazine out of his mouth, “I’m, uh, Jo-John," He couldn't help but stutter. The captain was intimidating up close. “I guess I’m with you,” And with that John fell in behind the man. Waiting for the others to follow, if any of them even decided to join them.