Fantasy A Good Ol' Zombie Apocalypse

[dew.]

Ash broke her arm free from Cindy's grasp, rubbing her thumb in a back and forth motion on her knife, looking down at it then put it away hesitantly. She turned to face the unfamiliar figure and frowned, unsure of why there were so many people all of a sudden. "Whats your names.." she asked both of them.

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine was attacked silently from the behind, A baseball bat pulling him backwards by the neck. "You little..." The Marine grunted as he fought back against the strength of the bandit. The Marine stabbed the bandit In the knee and twisted the bayonet, Making the pain much worse for the bandit. The bandit slung the baseball bat at the Marine's helmet, Cracking the baseball bat and sending the Marine to the ground. The Marine grabbed his pistol off the ground and aimed It at the bandit's head. "No Mercy." The Marine fired a shot, even with the suppressor on the gun It was still loud enough to attract anyone or thing nearby.
The Marine ran, His cover being blown, He ran past the group of three wasting no time. "Run!" The Marine shouted directly at the three.

 

[Deadly Darkness]

Nathan watched as the blonde skipped over to them- either she was psychotic and planned on killing them right then and there, or she was really dumb. "Do you play basketball?" She questioned. So it was the latter. The male relaxed slightly, releasing the pipe so he held it in one hand now. "Well I don't think it's a great idea to be luring anything out, cat or raccoon. Unless you plan on catching it, but," He looked at the deformed candy bar she held, squishing the contents around anxiously. "I doubt you thought that far ahead."
The blonde slowly reached out a hand towards Ash, like a child who thought if they moved slow enough they wouldn't be noticed. Nathan winced internally. He didn't even know Ash beyond a first name, so he had no idea how the knife wielding woman would've responded to such innocent and frankly daft behavior. It didn't seem to matter though because the blonde woman suddenly grabbed a hold of both of them, talking in a now hushed tone. "Who's that?"
Nathan turned his head in the direction the stranger was staring at warily. It took a moment to spot the figure among the rubble, but then he moved. Nathan's eyes widened for a moment. If the guy had wanted to he could've killed them all. Guess they were lucky. Ash tore herself free from the woman's grasp before beginning a lovely conversation with the poncho-wearing man. Nathan's mind was far from that now. His eyes darted around the area. It was faint, but there was something. Shuffling. Groaning. Gurgling. He couldn't tell if the sounds were real or in his head, but he didn't think it best to stick around and find out.
"Not to interrupt, but we came here because we heard a crash. I'm guessing you did too," He said, now addressing the man in the poncho. To be honest, Nathan figured the blonde must have been the one who made the noise. She definitely seemed capable of a thoughtless and clumsy action. "So if we heard it, then so did everything else. With that, if you want this fun little chit chat to continue I suggest we move elsewhere." Although his word suggested a reason to panic, his tone was the opposite. He made it sound like they were playing a rousing game of paintball and the other team might have been advancing, rather than a horde of creatures with murderous intent were approaching.
This all changed in a matter of seconds. There was a sudden gun shot and a large figure darting past. He yelled a single word, but Nathan didn't need any help in figuring out what it might have been. He quickly turned to the three near him. "Ash, cat, poncho, that's our cue." With no warning he grabbed a hold of the blonde's arm and dragged her along. While Nathan didn't know Ash, he assumed she didn't need someone pulling her along.

 

[dew.]

Ash followed quickly. Her eyes scanned the area as a small frown appeared on her lip, pulling her knife out in caution. If someone.. or something was following, she wanted to be paying full attention. She was perfectly aware she probably wouldn'tve gotten into this situation if everyone she encountered hadn'tve made such loud noises, but she pushed it past her and kept moving, occasionally glancing behind her to watch for any movements.

 

[PvtZetacius]

"Go on ahead, I can guard the rear against these things, if they're coming along" Greg nodded to Nathan just before he heads off, and looks for a solid wall he could prop himself up against, hopefully it would have a rubble and hopefully they would be willing to let him know when they're about to get out of sight so he could follow.

The suggestion was more for helping his hungry, low energy butt along, having missed a decent amount of meals while lugging this weapon that seemed to increase in weight and cumbersomeness by the day, he hoped to be doing a lot less moving... intense moving, in any case, but in any case, he could hear quite well and shoot straight, still.

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine stopped running when he was behind the cover of a abandoned M1A1 Abrams tank. He was breathing quite heavily as he knew a shitload of Infected were coming this way, and he was trying to regain his breath.
The Marine dropped to the ground and took a small sip of water from his flask then glancing to the others that had followed him. "You all...Okay?" The Marine asked as he screwed his Bayonet back onto his Silenced M27. Was there even such a thing as being okay anymore? At least It was more human than sneaking up behind someone and choking them out with a baseball bat.
"Aren't you Civilians supposed to be out in one of those camps or something?" The Marine asked the others. He knew there were survivor camps, Though a few haven't taken to kindly to the US Marine since they were supposedly the ones who started it.

 

[Gao]

‘I doubt you thought that far ahead.’ Cindy blinked at the dark haired male holding the pipe. She had a smile on her face, but there was a vacancy of intelligence in it. The lights were on but nobody was home. He was absolutely right.

“So you’re one of those smart ones,” She whispered with a narrow of her eyes, as if it was embarrassing to have rational thinking. Feeling the hooded female pull out of her grasp, Cindy stared at her now empty hand left hanging in the air. Maybe next time.

The blonde relaxed upon hearing the man in the poncho speak, now feeling a little bad for bringing up the idea of killing him. Everyone seemed to have crept out of their holes to check out the sound. “Gosh, town sure is busy today..” Mumbled the blonde, squinting at yet another figure in the distance. It was a man in uniform, however this man was running, and fast.

‘Run!’ The marine screamed as he zipped by.

“Run?! What do you mean run?” Cindy sounded in distress but the blonde was cut short, abruptly being grabbed and pulled along by the boy with the pipe. Fitness was not her passion, and by the time they all paused behind a tank, Cindy’s face was flushed pink and the back of her neck felt hot under her heavy hair. Now the blonde was staring hard at the uniformed man who was sipping from a flask, assumedly water. She looked in awe, eyes the size of dinner plates like all her prayers had been answered. They were saved!

“Where’s.. Where’s the rest of you?” She asked through heavy breathing. She looked around the surroundings, expecting to see trucks filled with more armed forces standing by. “You’re here to fix all this, right?” Cindy was happy to see the marine, hopeful in fact. Weeks of surviving and running and scrounging for food were coming to an end, “I’d love a bubble bath...”

The blonde had been living inside the trunk of a car the past week and she hadn’t heard anything about survivor camps. She hadn’t heard about anything from anyone. She spared a glance towards the others, wondering if they knew anything about it..

 

[dew.]

Ash responded simply, after taking a small break to breathe. "I've never been even spoken to about a camp. And blondie, I doubt one marine will fix everything miraculously like some fairytale story. Hate to break it to you." she frowned, sighing as she took her knife out. "Besides, aren't we far away from the nearest camp? And if we made it, what are the chances they'd let us in."

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine quickly looked to the Blonde haired girl and said, "...T-There are no more of us. Down south, It's a bloodbath. My radio died about a week or so ago, So I haven't been getting anything new from D.C." Then he turned to the Second girl. "You're right, I can't just fix everything either. Just like a few weeks ago, Those...Things Infected or killed off most of my Platoon, Then the heli crash finished who was remaining, 'Cept for me." His southern accent was slowly coming back to his mouth.

"Sorry to displease you all, But I have some MREs I can share with you all. Including Flameless ration heaters to warm the Entrees up." The Marine checked his M27 IAR and climbed atop the Tank, Regaining awareness of his surroundings. "I'm pretty surprised you all haven't considered me a Hostility yet, Most survivors engage us Military personnel as they always blame the military for everything." He said as he climbed back down slowly.

 

[Deadly Darkness]

Nathan looked back over his shoulder as the man he dubbed "poncho" said to go on ahead. He never really thought playing the hero type got anyone any farther, but it wasn't him so who was he to stop this stranger. The three continued running, following the mysterious gunman behind a fallen tank. Before completely disappearing behind it, the dark haired male turned back to poncho, shouting, "Hey, c'mon. Enough shooty shooty bang." He watched for a brief moment, making certain that the other man was headed back towards them, before ducking behind the take with the others.
From what he could tell he had just joined a conversation about safe havens and military let down. Nathan's expression grew tired as if he was suddenly tasked with babysitting a know-it-all brat. "If you couldn't manage with your training, what makes you think these camps are still standing?" He slipped his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans, leaning back against the blood splattered metal of the tank. "And you shouldn't make assumptions, about us considering you non-hostile. You know what they say," He looked back and forth before cupping a hand to his mouth as if divulging secrets. "Makes an ass out of you and me." His tone hadn't been any quieter. If anything he might have said it a little louder. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as his hand felt back down to his side.

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine looked to the man and responded with, "You're right, kid. I could be a goddamned bandit just waiting for the right moment to kill you all and take your stuff. I could secretly be Infected and turn in minutes. But, One thing you got wrong, I did manage with my training. Hell, I ate snakes days in a row, What makes this any different? Did I come all the way up here from the south to meet my death? No, I stared death in the face and they blinked first. Sure, I might've been shot at a few times by now and choked out as well, But that won't mean I'm just gonna die. I'm gonna keep fighting, Like the rest of you Survivors. I'm sure there are a few camps further north as well, There is less population up north than It is here." The Marine's tone of voice sounded cool and calm but also very tense at the same time.
"I'd better get to seeing if this Abrams tank is still operational," The Marine climbed into the tank from the top hatch. "Feel free to help out."

 

[Gao]

Cindy turned to Ash, her smile and optimism failing at the females words. The female was right, one marine wasn’t going to save the world. A slight frown crossed Cindy's face at this reality and she exhaled a loud sigh of disappointment. It was a sullen topic hearing the marine explain the downfall of his platoon and what he’d been up to the last few weeks. Cindy felt really bad for bringing it up and surprisingly managed to stay in respectful silence as he spoke.

While watching the interaction between pipe boy and the Marine, Cindy took an inconspicuous step closer to the girl in the hoodie. This felt tense, but she was happy to see no punches or weapons drawn. She liked and trusted everyone here.

"Men." She whispered to Ash with a confident and relatable nod of her head, as if she had said what needed to be said.

Cindy watched on as the marine finished the topic with an invitation and climbed up and into the tank with ease. The marine had mentioned entrees and Cindy certainly showed no hesitation to follow this new stranger. Did Cindy know anything about tanks? No. Did she still want to help out? Yes. She adjusted her little bag as if prepping for a mountain climb. Cindy had never been up close in person with a tank and they looked smaller on TV. It was a graceless struggle to scale to the top as well, since the blonde was afraid of touching any of the dried blood. Seeing it already made her feel squeamish, let alone touch it. Unfortunately in an apocalypse, blood was a little hard to avoid.

Once to the top, Cindy couldn’t help it any longer. The question that was burning on her brain just fell out of her stupid little mouth.

“What do snakes taste like?” She crouched beside the hatch, and squinted to where she could hear the uniformed male messing about in. It looked a little dark in there. And a bit small. Cindy didn't like that. She didn't like hiding out in car trunks, a small space with at least a window, let alone a cramped tank interior. The blonde didn't make a move to enter, remaining stooped next to the entrance and hesitant for the first time. Following strangers was no problem, but following strangers into small enclosed spaces? Too far.

"I ate duck once." The blonde announced proudly, as if that was in any way comparable to hunting down and eating snakes in the wild.

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine pressed a button on a control panel and flipped a switch. Nothing. "Ah...Let us see what is wrong with you...Hmm..." The Marine spoke to himself as he examined a tool-kit not lying far from him. The Marine felt around for a small metal panel and he was Interrupted by a feminine voice asking what snakes taste like.

He sighed and answered with, "Uhh...Could say Chicken or Fish. Doesn't really taste that bad at all, Just cook It to make It taste a bit better." He unscrewed the screws in the panel and pulled it off revealing a few large batteries. A light flashed red, Meaning the battery was dead. "Dammit, It's long dead." The Marine had looked up after the woman had something about ducks. "Duck is pretty good. Used to hunt them down south with my Pa. Oh...By the way, I'm Corporal Logan Thompson." He extended a hand to the blonde and smiled softly, Guess everything of the old world hasn't perished, Huh?

"Here. Take these, Share them with the others. I'm sure you are all famished by now." He handed the Blonde multiple MREs from his backpack. "Make sure to use the Flameless Ration Heater too." Logan said as he quickly got back to work. He turned back to the control panel and pressed the button again hoping the turbine engine would've powered up and stay on.

 

[PvtZetacius]

In the meantime, the poncho man would have made his way to the tank as well, gulping at the sight of MRE's that were being handed to the blonde, and seeing that it was handed to her first, wondered if he would get a share, having drawn the attention of exactly zero zombies or scavengers so far

 

[dew.]

Ash watched in curiosity, looking at the Marine on the tank, then glancing at the packs for a moment. She tried to resist, but gave in. "What's it like being a Marine..?" her curiosity got the better of her, making her ask the question. "Probably quite stressful nowadays..?"

 

[PvtZetacius]

"It probably is, but right now, we might be making a bit too much noise for the situation we find ourselves in" Greg would make the response for the soldier that is currently working on the tank, right now, he isn't interested in properly making a difference between the two, a soldier is a soldier, and a soldier cannot be any different from a survivor, that the entire group fitted into right now.

"Also... pardon me, but do you think this is wise? Turning on the tank?" he'd add while looking around and started to climb over the vehicle, struggling at first going single-handed for a moment before he brings his rifle out to holster over his shoulder, using both hands to climb on and look about

 

[Stricken Steel]

"Eh...PTSD, Fighting, All that. Nothing more, Nothing less." He peeked his head out of the tank as another person climbed up. "Just watch. Get behind some cover though." His head dove back into the tank as the turbine engine began to get louder and louder. He locked a joystick in place and put the tank at full throttle.
He climbed out of the tank quickly and quickly grabbed Blondie's hand with one arm and pulled Greg off the tank with the other.
He pulled them behind a sandbag barricade and said, "I've been watching for weaknesses. They attract to any type of sound. When they can't see they rely on sound..." The Marine watched as the tank moved forward quickly attracting a few Infected. "And If you stay completely still, They won't notice you." He watched the Abrams tank crash into a building and ram through It. "Let's get inside. Get rest. Get Refreshed. Get Supplies." Logan said as he opened up the front door to the building beside them.
The Marine moved in slowly and silently. Logan moved in and once It was safe he said, "It's all good."

 

[PvtZetacius]

"A... okay, that works too" the poncho man says through a cough after he was pulled to ground, grunting as he struggles for a moment before rolling onto his front and pushing himself up from there, even when approaching, it was in low energy shuffles accompanied by shortness of breath from even that short a distance before slumping against the wall, then following in, almost tripping on the way

 

[dew.]

Ash sighed a little in relief, staying quiet and low seeing the infected near the tank, a little surprised the marine new so much in such little time, following him and rolling her eyes seeing the person in front of her nearly trip over and fall face first on the floor. "Idiot." she mumbled, entering. Her breath was short and sharp from the icy cold air on her skin, making her nosetip and cheeks a little red.

 

[PvtZetacius]

He shoots the comment a glance, eyebrows twitching at the remark and held his breath while determining if the girl was simply just rude or believed themselves infallible, either way, he was already starting to dislike her incredibly fast, and they didn't even get to speak yet

Nonetheless, he'd tear his gaze away shortly, gazing outside to make sure nothing bad is following the others in, rifle ready with finger over the trigger guard, he'll deal with this rude person another time

 

[Deadly Darkness]

Nathan watched in utter disbelief at the train wreck ensuing before him. The group huddled around the tank and the soldier as if he was their saving grace. It was ridiculous. The male opened his mouth, aiming to protest the usage of the clunky tank, but the man in the poncho beat him to it. It was nice knowing that Nathan wasn't the only sane person here. Of course, this did nothing to stop the man in the tank, and soon the monstrous engine roared to life. Nathan's head whipped around, eyes daring about anxiously. He swore under his breath as he watched a number of zombies start to move. The tank then roared like a beast before plunging itself into a building across the street. Nathan rolled his eyes tiredly before following the others into a nearby building. He could feel his anger boiling close to the surface.
Once they were all in and small talk resumed, Nathan snapped. "So do you think before you act or is that too much for you?" He spat venomously. "What benefit did it serve crashing that tank? All you did was lure more zombies into the city. Once they see no one is in the tank they'll go back to roaming the area, and guess what? We're in the area." Nathan ran his fingers through his hair in annoyance. "Trying to kill them all now would be a waste of ammo, and clearly not everyone is fit to run away," He gestured towards the man in the poncho. "Maybe there's a reason your team died. You seem to be good at putting people at risk."

 

[dew.]

Ash frowned. "You're oddly salty for the fact he just gave us an opportunity to learn about the weaknesses of the zombies, and gave us a route into this place. Yes, I'll admit it wasn't the smoothest plan and now there are more zombies, but what would you have done. Sat there still for 20 minutes, fiddling with the pipe you have?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "We all have our opinions and views, but at the end of the day if we all want to live through this, then we're gonna have to work together - no matter how much you despise the idea." she glanced at Nathan, then at the Marine. "We may not have any other choice in this situation. If it were up to me I'd be out of here in a blink, but I wouldn't survive out there alone for much longer. I don't think anyone would." her eyes scanned along the dark area, rolling her eyes and rested them for a second. "You seem to be quite good at maintaining your anger." she said sarcastically. "Get it together; would you rather be out there with zombies slowly making their way through every corner of this entire city, or would you rather be here." she leant against the walls and huffed. "At least we're alive to start with. Others aren't so lucky." she muttered.

She tapped the tip of her shoe on the flooring for a moment, before briefly glancing at the man in the poncho. "If I come across as rude, I apologise." she closed her eyes after, almost in disbelief she apologised so fast, her hands in her pockets once more, and her legs slightly slanted as she leaned.

 

[Oskolok]

"Какого?.."
In the middle of the looting process, Shard heard the loud sound of an approaching engine, and later, something literally crashed into the building near where he is now. Looking outside, the guy actually saw a huge hole in the wall, and also... A tank? He did not expect to see any military these days, especially driving on a tank through a building. It could have been ordinary looters, though. In any case, Shard was interested in who decided to drive in so loudly, so he quickly began to go down to the first floor of his house, holding a shotgun in his hands, after which, making sure that no one was looking in his direction, began to carefully approach the source of the noise, holding a gun at the ready.
Approaching the tank, Shard noticed a rather large group of people. The most notable were two with firearms: the first was, judging by the equipment, a Marine, while the second was simply observed with a rifle on his belt. The rest were apparently without firearms, which would have made the firefight a lot easier if it get started. However, we hope it won't come to that.
Taking a comfortable position behind the tank, from which, if something happened, he could easily retreat and go in from the flank, Shard threw a shotgun on his left shoulder and began to silently watch the group for now, trying not to give out his presence.

 

[Gao]

“Corporal Logan Thompson." Cindy repeated, giving him a firm handshake. She even got a smile which she quickly returned, Cindy loved a good smile. "I'm Cindy!"

Now with all her new ‘friends’ plus a Marine, Cindy was feeling much better about survival. The blonde took the MRE packets with eagerness, immediately spreading them out over the top of the tank and reading over the collection before her.

"You know, you were always my favourite." She commented to the man inside the hatch, despite having just met him and everybody else. Some of the rations were Ravioli, Cheese Tortellini, Spaghetti and Meatball, even Chicken soup. Seeing these names made her miss cooking on a stove and serving dinner on a table with family. But this was all she had now, a little ration packet of beef noodles on a tank. She gave a watery smile and packed them into her bag so they could all eat later. Cindy was dumb, but not dumb enough to start heating their food out in the open like this. She wanted everyone to be comfortable and safe when they had their first meal together. She was excited to finally get to eat heated food.

The tank rumbled to life and Cindy panicked for a moment, scared she would fall off. But she didn't have to worry too long about that, since that seemed to be the plan anyway. The marine grabbed her and poncho guy and they scampered off the tank, taking refuge behind a sandbag barrier.

'They attract to any type of sound. When they can't see they rely on sound... And If you stay completely still, They won't notice you.' That made sense, Cindy had been stuck in the trunk of a car a few times with a straggler beating and scratching to get into the vehicle. If she stayed silent they would eventually forget she was there, or get distracted by another noise and chase that instead.

The sound was deafening as the tank ploughed into a wall, and she clamped her hands over her ears in discomfort as she followed the group into a new building. Cindy was happy to be inside, but something had ticked Pipe boy over the edge, immediately snapping at the Marine. The blonde shrunk a little watching the intensity of the group grow. First with Pipe Boy, and now the female had joined in. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The energy was wrong.

"Guys.." She attempted in a soft voice, but was easily drowned out by the others going at it. She was clutching her bag close to herself, watching in despair as this idealized family she had formed was crumbling. "How about some Ravioli, huh?" She gave her bag a shake, desperately trying to get all of their attention.

"Chicken soup? What about some soup?"

 

[Stricken Steel]

The Marine Ignored the rude comment Poncho man had given to him. "Maybe there's a reason your team died. You seem to be good at putting people at risk." This comment had set off the memories that had happened only weeks ago. Those memories were forgotten, But now they had come back because of the remark.
The Screams of his fallen brothers and sisters, The explosion, The horde approaching him. His memories were now very vivid, So he sat down in a nearby chair and began to clean his M27 IAR.
Then the blonde asked If he wanted some chicken soup. "N-No. You all need It more than I do. You all need to eat, I can handle myself." He noticed his left hand holding the cleaning rag was now shaking slightly. Then he remembered what the man named Nathan had said about thinking. "It's better to know your surroundings than not know It at all."

He pulled out his radio and looked at the receiver, Which was broken. Replacement would be easy but he would need some wiring and thin steel. He was trying to distract himself but the memories were so...Bloody and Vivid. It wasn't Logan's fault the Helicopter had gone down, Another marine in the remaining platoon was somehow Infected and dove head-first into the cockpit, Sending the chopper spiraling down to the ground.